


Married At First Sight

by rboudreau



Category: Big Brother RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-28
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-04-01 15:26:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 59,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4025041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rboudreau/pseuds/rboudreau
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two strangers get married upon first meeting each other and must learn how to make their marriage work as they get to know each other. At the end of 6 weeks, they must decide whether they want to stay married or get a divorce.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Zach

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the A&E show. Chapters will get longer soon, I promise.

**Zach Rance, 24**

_I’ve been single since high school. I’ve had casual dates and hookups, but that chemistry you look for in someone you’re interested in marrying just hasn’t been there. I love a challenge, and this feels like the biggest challenge I could ask for. Meeting people online or in bars has been a bust so far, so I’m putting my future in the experts’ hands and hoping for the best._

**

Zach fiddled with the bracelet around his wrist as he waited nervously outside the conference room. He'd been called yesterday to ask to come in, and now was just waiting for the cameras to be set up so he could be called in. 

He found himself thinking again how crazy this whole thing was. He was a prospect on what was essentially a dating reality show, which he'd only looked into after his mom had continued to express her concerns at the fact that he had yet to settle down and get married and have children. He wanted to make her happy, so when the opportunity to be a part of a show where he'd meet his future spouse on the day of their wedding came about, he filled out an application and sent it in. The network called him in for more and more meetings and sessions with different experts -- a sex expert, a spiritual expert, a sociology expert, and a psychological expert -- and this meeting was hopefully going to tell him if they'd found a match for him.

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_I don't really like labels, but if anything, I'd say I'm bisexual. Some people might think that makes dating easier, but for me I think it's made things more difficult. Not everyone I date is understanding of the fact that I like women and men, and it's definitely been something I've had to figure out and get comfortable with myself in order to be happy. I think the fact that I only came out a little over a year ago has been a big part of why I haven’t been able to find someone I actually want to be with, because I’ve had this part of me I never admitted to. All I want is to find someone that can make me laugh and keep me on my toes and who I have great chemistry with. Whether that be my future wife or my future husband, that's something I hope these experts can direct me towards._

**

It was another 20 minutes before he was settled down in front of the camera. He wiped his sweaty palms against the leg of his pants as the camera started rolling. A few minutes later, he heard the words he'd been waiting for.

"We've found you a match."


	2. Frankie

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_I’m very excited for this experience. I’ve had a hard time meeting someone who wants to be with me forever and who doesn’t just see someone in the spotlight. It’s been amazing seeing my sister become a huge star, and I couldn’t be more proud of her, but I definitely think it’s had an affect on my love life. Boys find out she’s a singer and actress and they use that to push their own agenda, and it’s...it’s hard. I want someone who loves me for me, not for who I’m related to._

**

Frankie bounced up and down on the balls of his feet anxiously in the hallway. He had a really good feeling about today. His meetings with the experts for this TV show had gone really well and been promising. He’d laid his whole heart and soul on the line to them in the hopes that they would be able to find his perfect match, his soulmate. His family and friends had been hesitant when he’d come to them and told them he was applying to a show where he would get married to a stranger, but they trusted his judgement and supported him through the process as he did everything required for the show.

He smiled brightly as an assistant ushered him into the room and got him ready for the camera.

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_I was raised by a single mother, but my ideas of love are heavily based on my grandparents’ relationship. They were together for most of their lives before my grandfather passed away this summer. He was essentially my father figure growing up, and he and my Nonna taught me how to treat someone you’re in a relationship with, and they’ve showed me how beautiful it can be to be in love with your best friend. That’s what I want more than anything. I want someone I can laugh with and joke around with, who I can tell all my secrets and fears to, and who can love me as much as I love them without even thinking about it. I’ve been in love with men before, but it’s usually fizzled out due to the fact that there wasn’t really a friendship formed before we started dating. If the experts find someone they believe will be my husband, I want to feel like we’re friends as well as lovers._

**

Frankie smiled at the coordinator sitting across from him, tears flooding his eyes in relief as he spoke the words Frankie’d been dying to hear since he started this journey.

“Frankie, we’ve found you a match. Congratulations. You’ll be getting married in 10 days.”


	3. Telling The Families

When Zach went to Long Island to tell his family, it was with a camera crew in tow. It was kind of surreal, but Zach loved the attention. He was used to his off camera radio job. He did good at it. But being in front of the camera is where Zach felt he thrived. He had a higher energy when he knew people were watching.

He caught up with his parents and little brother, who were in New York for the holidays visiting him and their extended family. Zach lived in Manhattan with his best friend, AJ, and had been for the better part of the last year, but now that his family was visiting from Florida, he made frequent trips to Long Island to see them. 

He cleared his throat, looking at his parents. “So...I’ve got some news.”

Jill raised her eyebrow at him and stopped what she was doing. “Okay. Go on.”

He inhaled nervously. “The experts found me a match. I’m getting married next week.”

They stared at him for a moment in shock before Jill spoke again. “Wow. That’s...soon.”

“I know. So what do you think?”

“I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t really think this would happen. It’s so bizarre to me that you’re going to be marrying someone you don’t even know. That being said, your father and I obviously got married very quickly after knowing each other, so we stand beside you 100%.”

Zach smiled. “Thanks, Ma.”

“Do you know anything about this girl?” Kevin asked. “Her name or what she looks like or anything at all?”

He ran a hand through his hair. “Actually, uh….I’m not marrying a girl...I’m marrying a guy. They matched me with a guy. And that’s all I know.”

They knew it was always a possibility, but it was just another thing that they didn’t think would actually happen. But they were still supportive, so they smiled and hugged him and told him they couldn’t wait for the wedding so they could meet their future son-in-law.

~~

“Bro, I’m getting married in a week. They found my match on this show.”

AJ laughed, clapping him on the back. “No shit? That’s great man, congrats.”

“Thanks. It’s crazy, y’know? Like a week from today, I’m marrying a guy I don’t even know. He could be anyone.”

“Isn’t that the whole point of this show?” AJ joked. 

Zach shoved him. “Asshole.”

AJ rolled his eyes. “Dude, it’s gonna be fine. Worst case scenario, he sucks in bed, he’s boring as fuck, and you get a divorce 6 weeks later.”

“Yea, cause that’s how I want to close out the first month of the year, with a divorce. How fucked up would it be if I can’t even make it work for 6 weeks?”

He shrugged. “Hey, at least after 6 weeks, the show would take care of it. Anything longer than that and you’re paying for it on your own dime.”

Zach nodded, taking a sip of his beer and letting the silence wash over them. He placed the bottle down after finishing what was left inside and looked over at AJ. “Will you be my best man?”

AJ grinned over at him. “Duh.”

*****

“I’m getting married in a week!” Frankie exclaimed. His family and friends cheered excitedly, each coming over to hug him in congratulations. 

“That’s so soon!” Ariana said. “We need to go shopping immediately. Oh my god, I’m gonna have a new brother in law!”

Frankie laughed and clung to her happily. “I’m so excited. I can’t believe this is actually happening. I’ve wanted to get married for years, and now it’s here.” 

His Nonna reached over to hold his hand. “I’m so happy for you, sweetheart. I can’t wait to meet him. I know Frank is going to be watching over you with a smile on his face.”

He teared up, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “I know he will. I wish he could be here. But you’re right, he’ll be watching over me.”

“So what’s the date?” Lauren asked, hoping to lighten the mood.

“It’s 12/13/14. Once in a lifetime,” he smiled. “It’s a Saturday, so I’m going to have to call the theatre and take some time off for the wedding and the honeymoon.”

Ariana waved her hand flippantly. “Don’t worry about that, they’ll understand. Ahhh I’m so excited! I can’t wait to see you standing at the alter.”

~~

“I can’t believe you’re marrying a stranger,” Paul said as they sat on the balcony that night.

Frankie laughed. “Me neither. It feels right though. Everything about this has just felt like something that was always supposed to happen. Like fate.”

“Ever the romantic,” Lauren teased. “Only you would marry someone the same day you meet them.”

“Only me and my husband,” he quipped with a smile. “Yet another reason it’s fate.”

Lauren rolled her eyes playfully, cuddling into him. “Well I hope he’s everything you’ve been waiting for.”

“Me too,” he said softly. He leaned his head against her shoulder, staring off at the city skyline. “What do you think he looks like?”

Paul snorted. “If he’s your perfect match? Probably tall, dark, and a little douchey.”

Frankie kicked him weakly in the calf. “That’s okay, I like a challenge. Besides, I can be douchey too, I need someone who will be a douche with me.”

“And I’m sure he’ll think the sun shines out of your ass,” Lauren added.

Frankie giggled. “He better.” Then he groaned, burying his face in her shoulder. “What if he’s just a top or a bottom? I mean, I don’t mind one way or the other, but I like mixing it up every once in a while. Or what if he doesn’t like getting rimmed? I love rimming. Guys, what if we’re not good together in bed?!”

They laughed at him in his panic. “Frankie, chill. You’ll make it work. You’ve had worse. Remember that guy from LA? The one who kept talking about his ‘amazing’ modeling career _while_ you were sucking his dick? And then wouldn’t care if you came or not?”

Frankie shuddered at the memory. “Please God don’t let my husband gloat about himself in bed. I’ll literally jump off this balcony.”

“You’re going to have a husband in a week,” Lauren said in disbelief.

“I’m going to have a husband in a week,” he breathed, smiling softly to himself.


	4. Wedding Preparations

**Zach Rance, 24**

_The wedding is coming up in five days, so I’m going to get tuxes with my roommate, my little brother, and my dad today. Normally, I don’t really like getting all dressed up, but knowing that this is for my wedding day, it kind of makes me more excited about it. I want to look good, you know? When I see my husband for the first time, I want him to be attracted to me. So I’m ditching the polos and jeggings, and dressing up in style._

**

“What do you think, Pizz, do I look like a total stud?” he asked, doing a spin in his tuxedo. 

Peyton giggled at his brother. “You’re lame.”

Zach gasped in mock offense. “Dude, I look fine as hell. Whatever guy they picked to marry me is gonna want to fuck me as soon as he sees me.”

“Hey, watch your mouth,” Kevin groaned. Zach winked at the camera filming him.

“I’m kidding! Jeez,” he drew out. He checked himself out in the mirror again and then turned to the camera, walking right up to it and blowing a kiss. “Better watch out, baby. I’m gonna take your breath away.” He winked again, and the cameraman laughed at him.

“Alright, Casanova,” AJ said, rolling his eyes. “You’re not marrying the camera, why don’t you make a decision on the tux.”

Zach huffed and stood back in front of the mirror. He admired himself for a minute, the thought of his impending marriage at the forefront of his mind. “Well I look like a total smokebomb, so obviously this is what I’m wearing.”

AJ shook his head with a laugh. “Remind me to pray for your husband tonight. He’s gonna have his hands full with you.”

Zach hummed. “I hope so.”

Kevin smacked him on the back of the head, ignoring the laughter around him.

*****

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_I haven’t hit the nervous stage yet. I’ve been settled at excited since I got the news, and I’m hoping it stays that way. I’m confident that this was the best choice for me, and that in just a few short days, I’ll meet the man I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. I’ve had some friends think I’m completely crazy for doing this, but I have all this positive energy built up. Part of me wants to savor these last few days as we prepare for the wedding, but most of me just wants to be there, seeing him for the first time._

**

“You look gorgeous,” Frankie exclaimed, seeing his sister come out of the changing room in her Maid Of Honor dress. “I changed my mind, you can’t come to the wedding. You’re going to look better than me.”

Ariana laughed. “You’re gay, Frankie. You’re marrying a man. He’s not even going to look twice at me. No weird ass leaving you at the alter soap opera drama here.”

“Who knows? You could be the chick he switches for. Wouldn’t that be the highlight of my life?”

She rolled her eyes playfully. “He’s going to take one look at you and drop to his knees. You don’t have to worry about anything else.”

He grinned. “I need it to be Saturday already. I’ve got this image in my head of what he might look like, or at least what I hope he looks like, and I just need the real deal.”

She dropped a kiss on his cheek. “It’ll be here before you know it. For now we just have to finish up here, then we have your bachelor party in a couple days, and then after that, you’ll be a married man.”

“My fans are going to freak when they find out I took off all these Rock of Ages performances to get married,” he giggled. “Actually I’m kind of surprised they haven’t figured it out already. Sometimes they know things before I do.”

Ariana groaned playfully. “Tell me about it, darling.” She twirled in her dress, the light catching on the glitter in the fabric. “I really do look gorgeous,” she teased.

*****

**Zach Rance, 24**

_Tonight is my bachelor party. It’s kind of finally hitting me that I’m getting married in less than 24 hours. I wouldn’t say I’m nervous, I just have this anxious, surreal feeling. Like, by this time tomorrow, I’m going to have a husband. And that’s so weird and crazy to say, but also amazing and exciting. I never really thought I’d actually get married. I didn’t think there’d ever be someone who would want to marry me. And I guess technically this guy doesn’t really know if he wants to marry me, but it’s just...I don’t know. All I know is that I’m going to be someone’s husband, and it’s surprising me how much I like the sound of that. I like the thought of there being someone who is going through the same thing I am, and who I can come home to every day and share my life with. I just hope my dog likes him, because if Tiger doesn’t like him, it’s a lost cause. I’m kidding...kind of._

**

“Cheers to this froot loop dingus,” AJ toasted. “And cheers to the poor bastard who has to marry him tomorrow.”

Zach laughed, kicking him half heartedly and downing his shot. “Fuck you. He’s lucky to be marrying me. I’m hilarious.”

“You’re also crazy,” Erik joked. “This might just be the craziest thing you’ve ever done.”

Zach shrugged. “Maybe. But who knows? These experts could be right on the money, and I’ll be married to this guy for the rest of my life.”

AJ clapped him on the back. “I hope so. You getting cold feet yet?”

He shook his head. “Not really. I’m pretty relaxed, actually. Just ready for tomorrow to happen. As long as my parents and Peyton like him, and Tiger likes him, I’m good. I know my parents have been kind of cautious about this whole thing, because they don’t want me to get hurt, but I just hope they keep an open mind when they meet him.”

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_I hope he’s a family guy. My family’s really important to me, so I hope he likes them and they like him, and that I like his family too. I hope he’s smart and funny, because those are two qualities I love most in a person. If you can’t make me laugh or hold an intelligent conversation with me, then I’d rather not talk to you. And, if I’m going to be shallow and superficial, I kind of hope there’s some instant attraction between us. I want to walk into the room and see my husband standing there and feel that spark. I’ll know when I see him. And that’s important. If you don’t have a physical attraction to someone, you’re basically just friends._

*****

“May you have years of happiness and find your perfect other half.”

Frankie clinked his glass against Ariana’s and his friends’ and sipped the champagne inside.

Lauren nudged his shoulder lightly. "You freaking out yet?"

He hummed. "Yes and no? Part of me is freaking out that I'm actually finally getting married, but I think I'm mostly just ready for it to happen. I just feel like this is a good thing."

Ariana grinned mischievously at him. "Speaking of good things..." She grabbed a bag beside her chair and handed it to him. "It's from all of us."

"Oh God," he joked. He moved the tissue paper to the side and dug his hand in, grabbing the first thing he could find and pulling it out. He shook his head, laughing. "A bottle of lube. Why am I not surprised?"

"Just in case," Paul winked. "You're getting married; you need to treat your man like a lady."

Frankie groaned playfully. "I don't even know if anything's going to happen any time soon."

Ariana scoffed. " _You're_ not going to have sex with your husband?"

"We don't even know each other!" he defended.

"When has that ever stopped you?" Dominic teased.

He crossed his arms over his chest in mock indignation. "You make me sound like a slut. This is my husband. Who I'm meeting for the first time. I don't even know how he feels about having sex right away."

"But you want to?"

He tried to keep his smile at bay, but found himself smiling widely as he continued opening his gifts. "Shut up."

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_This time tomorrow, I’ll be a married man. I hope that there will be an immediate attraction between us, and that this will all be worth it. I need someone who will understand my hectic lifestyle, be my best friend and my husband, and who I can count on for anything. I’m excited for this to finally happen. I don’t want to rush anything, though. If there’s not an instant connection, I’m hoping it will grow between us over the next six weeks. But I’m feeling optimistic. I’m ready to be someone’s husband. I just hope he’s ready to go Grande...or he can go home._


	5. The Wedding

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_My wedding day is here......yea, I don't know what to say. It feels like I'm in a dream. Two weeks ago, I didn't even have any dating prospects, and now I'm going to be someone's husband in a matter of a few short hours. It's crazy, it's exciting, it's...it's everything I've ever wanted. I can't believe it's here._

_I want love, I want commitment, I want trust...I want this. I’m trusting these experts to find me my perfect match, and I honestly just can’t wait for this to happen. I’m a few hours shy of meeting, hopefully, the love of my life. It’s scary, but I’m ready. Bring it on._

**

“Dude, you’re getting married!” Ariana yelled in disbelief as she jumped into her brother’s arms.

Frankie laughed. “I know, _dude_ ,” he teased. He took a deep breath as he stepped away from her, reaching his hands up to fix his bowtie. “I can’t believe it’s really here. Are you ready to have a brother-in-law?”

She grinned, resting her chin on his shoulder as he looked at himself in the full length mirror. “Beyond ready.” She helped him straighten out the collar of his jacket and smoothing out the occasional wrinkle. “By the way, your dad, Karen, and James just got here. They’re with mommy and Nonna.”

He nodded. “Awesome. Thank you.”

*****

**Zach Rance, 24**

_I’m getting nervous now. It didn’t really hit me until I got here. I mean it did, but now it’s like...it’s so surreal. By the end of the day, I’m gonna be married. My life isn’t just going to be mine anymore. I’m going to share it with someone else. I’m still extremely excited, but yea, the nerves are definitely kicking in now._

**

Zach ran his hand through his hair, trying to get it to look as perfect as possible. “Shit, I’m a mess. He’s gonna turn around and walk out of there as soon as he sees me.”

AJ clapped him on the back reassuringly. “No he’s not, you’re freaking yourself out for nothing. Everything’s going to be fine. You’re gonna walk down that aisle, you’re going to get married, and you’re going to have this crazy story to tell people for the rest of your life.”

He chuckled nervously. “It’s so crazy. Who does this? I’m marrying someone I don’t even know.”

“So you’ll get to know him. You both signed up for this, you’ve already got your common ground. Just work your way up from there.”

Zach nodded. “You’re right. Thanks bro.” He adjusted his tie so he had something to do with his hands. “Okay, can you bring my gift out so they can give it to his wedding party for him?”

“Of course. Try and relax. I’ll be back in a couple minutes.”

*****

Frankie smiled brightly as Ariana and a couple of his friends came in, Ariana carrying a blue gift bag with her. “Is that from him?” he asked excitedly.

“It is indeed.” She handed it to him. “Let’s see!”

He sat on the edge of the hotel bed with the bag in his lap. He shifted some tissue paper out of the way, pulling out a card and opening it. “Dear Husband, I’m so excited to share this journey with you. I can’t wait to meet you and spend the rest of forever with you. Hope you like your gifts. See you soon. xoxo Your Husband.” Frankie couldn’t stop smiling as he put the card aside. “Oh my god, I love him already.”

Lauren laughed. “Why don’t you wait to meet him before deciding that?” 

He stuck his tongue out playfully at her and dug back into the bag for his gift. He giggled as he pulled out a pair of black socks, reading the design on them that said ‘in case you get cold feet.’

“But how can I not love him with this?” he jokingly whined. He spent a moment removing the socks he already had on his feet and putting on the new ones before going back into the bag for the other gift. “Aww it’s a journal.” He opened it up, noticing how it also had a planner section. There was a note marked on today’s date that said ‘Our wedding’ with a heart beside it, and a short message written on the first page of the journal. “‘So we can plan the rest of our lives together.’ This is so sweet,” he breathed.

Ariana smiled at her brother. “Well, so far I’m pretty sure I like him. Let’s get this show on the road.”

*****

AJ brought in a pink gift bag for Zach, who immediately broke out into a smile.

"Yaaaas," Zach drew out. "My favorite color. We really are perfect for each other."

AJ rolled his eyes at him and handed off the bag. "Glad to see your nerves have calmed down in the five minutes I was gone."

Zach winked. "Presents have an eternal calming effect." He sat down on the bed and pulled a card out of the bag. He traced his finger over the handwriting on the outside of the card, reading 'Husband-To-Be' with a soft smile on his face. He opened the envelope, taking the card out to read. "To my husband: thank you for choosing to go through this journey with me. I look forward to learning about each other and growing together as we travel this road together. I hope I can make all your dreams come true and share a beautiful life by your side. Love, your husband."

"Damn," AJ said.

Zach laughed. "He's fucking perfect, oh my god." He fished his hand back into the bag, pulling out a small rectangle box. His eyes bulged out a little, seeing the Tom Ford inscription on top. "Shut the fuck up." He lifted the cover, revealing a bowtie neatly nestled inside.

AJ whistled. "Your man's got taste."

He ran the material through his finger and thumb, captivated by the moment he was in. "Okay, he's literally perfect. Jeez, my gift was so lame compared to this."

"Your gift was great, shut up. Now change into that and then we can get this party started."

Zach smiled as he yanked off his tie and carefully put on the bowtie, making sure it looked perfect. 

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_This is it. I'm about to meet my husband for the first time. I'm nervous, I'm excited. I feel good though. His card definitely comforted me a little and reminded me that I'm not the only one going through this right now. He's going through this too, we're in this together. And that's reassuring. And now having this bowtie on, the first gift I ever got from him, it makes this very real. I'm ready. I'm ready. Let's do this._

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_I just got really overwhelmed. This is probably one of the craziest things I’ve ever done. I haven’t felt this way in a long time. Wow, I’m getting married. It’s really happening. Oh man._

**

Frankie stood outside the door to the room he’d be getting married in, waiting anxiously for them to open. He had a ball of nerves twisting in his stomach and his palms were sweating. He took a few deep breaths, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

After what felt like an eternity, the doors opened and he smiled as he made his way down the aisle to wait for his match. His family were clapping, as was his soon-to-be husband’s family. He stood at the top of the aisle and smiled at his family, then turned his attention to the other group of people, glancing over them eagerly. 

“Hi!” he exclaimed. “Thank you for coming. I’m so excited to share this day with all of you.” He saw some smiles returned to him and it made him feel better. He blew a kiss to his own family and then straightened his shoulders and kept his eyes locked on the doors he had just entered from, waiting for his husband to walk through.

**

“Okay. Okay. I can do this. I’m ready. Holy shit. Oh my god. I’m marrying a stranger. Okay. This is real life. Let’s do this.”

Zach cracked his knuckles as he finished his pep talk to himself and brought a hand up to touch the bowtie around his neck, letting it ground him. 

He felt his heart jump again as the doors started to open. He couldn’t see the top of the aisle from right here, all he could see were his family and who he supposed was his husband’s family standing and looking back at him. He smiled and made his way into the room, almost freezing in place as his husband came into view. Zach spent the rest of the short walk studying everything he could about him, from his blonde hair to the glitter around his eyes to the matching bowtie around his neck. He had a sparkly cummerbund around his waist, just barely visible as his jacket road up a little. 

Zach finally made it to the end, his eyes never leaving his husband’s. His cheeks were starting to hurt with how much he was smiling. His husband offered his hand out to him, and Zach took it as he walked up the few steps to be beside him. He swore he felt sparks shooting across his skin, and if it were possible, he’d think the smile on his face grew bigger.

“I’m Frankie,” his husband said. 

“Zach,” he returned.

Frankie smiled, squeezing his hand. “Nice to meet you, Zach.”

Zach breathed a sigh of relief. “Nice to meet you, Frankie.”

He brought a hand up to Zach’s bowtie, fiddling with it a little and winking at him. “That looks good on you.”

Zach grinned. “Thank you. I love it.”

“I loved your gifts too.” Frankie admired the blush on Zach’s face and squeezed his hand again.

“Zach Rance, meet Frankie Grande-Marchione,” introduced their wedding officiant. “Zach, Frankie’s friends and family want you to know Frankie enjoys travelling, adopting as many dogs as humanly possible, singing and dancing, wearing more glitter than is probably necessary, and is loyal to those closest to him.”

Zach nodded with a smile. He brought his free hand up to gently touch the glitter beside Frankie’s eye. “Noted.” Frankie laughed, and Zach already felt himself getting addicted to the sound.

“Frankie, Zach’s friends and family want you to know that Zach is obsessed with golf, his dog Tiger, and hanging out with his little brother when possible. He is open to trying new things, enjoys his job, loves to laugh and sing along to whatever comes on the radio, even if he doesn’t know the words, and is fiercely protective of his family.”

Frankie smiled and nodded, staring into Zach’s eyes.

“Zach and Frankie, you are now to bring together the best parts of your individuality to create something better than either of you alone can offer. Frankie, do you take Zach to be your wedded husband? To respect him? To encourage and support him? To nurture him and to be for him a devoted husband?”

Frankie took a deep breath and tightened his hold on Zach’s hand, giving him a comforting smile. “I do.”

“Zach, do you take Frankie to be your wedded husband? To respect him? To encourage and support him? To nurture him and to be for him a devoted husband?”

Zach felt a flare of nerves flood through his body and his palms get sweaty again. He glanced over at his parents and his brother and then looked back at Frankie. “I do,” he said, laughing a little in disbelief at this moment.

He was handed a ring to put on Frankie’s finger and repeated the words the officiant recited. “Frankie, I take you as my husband. I pledge to share my life openly with you and to remain open to the prospect for love to grow between us.”

Frankie laughed in happiness, making Zach giggle in return. He took the other ring and placed it on Zach’s finger, repeating the same words. “Zach, I take you as my husband. I pledge to share my life openly with you and to remain open to the prospect for love to grow between us.”

“By the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and husband. You may share a kiss if you choose.”

Zach felt Frankie’s cold hand slide up to his cheek, and then they were kissing. Frankie felt himself drowning in the kiss, feeling the undeniable chemistry between them. He teased his tongue into Zach’s mouth, making Zach giggle and break the kiss, smiling and blushing at Frankie. Frankie grinned and winked at him as the officiant announced them as husbands. They stood at the alter momentarily while everyone applauded them, and then they made their way down the aisle, their hands laced together. 

The door closed behind them, giving them a few minutes with just them and the camera keeping a casual distance.

“That was crazy,” Zach laughed. 

Frankie laughed in agreement. “You okay?”

“I’m okay. Are you okay?”

“I’m good.” He exhaled heavily. “Not gonna lie, I was shaking so bad.”

Zach laughed. “Me too. My hands were getting all sweaty.” They stood by a table and faced each other, smiling. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Frankie returned. Zach found himself being pulled back in for a nice slow kiss. He gripped Frankie’s waist and got lost in it. They pulled away and Frankie hummed softly. “One thing we don’t have to worry about,” he murmured. 

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_I just got married. Oh my god. This is so surreal. I was so nervous until I saw him, and then it just felt so right. He’s hot. He is. The chemistry is definitely there. I already feel a connection with him. The experts definitely knew what they were doing when they picked Frankie._

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_I was instantly attracted to Zach. He’s definitely my type. The first thing I noticed was his smile. He has a really nice smile. It’s comforting. I’m feeling good about this. I’m optimistic, for sure._

**

“My mom, my little sister, and my Nonna are here, my dad, his wife, and my little brother, and then a bunch of friends. What about you? Who do you have with you today?” Frankie asked.

“Um, my parents are here, my little brother, my roommate, a couple friends from back home, and my aunt, uncle, and cousins.”

“And where’s home?”

“I grew up in Florida,” Zach explained. “I just moved to New York at the end of May.”

Frankie laughed. “Shut up. I grew up in Florida too. We moved there when I was 10.”

Zach widened his eyes. “No way. Where?”

“Boca.”

“Shit,” Zach said. “That’s only like a half hour from me. I’m from Palm Beach.”

“Seriously?” Zach nodded. “Well isn’t this a small world.”

“Where’d you go to school?”

“I went to Pine Crest.”

Zach smirked. “You went to Pine Crest? I know so many people from Pine Crest. I know what Pine Crest kids are like.”

Frankie put on a fake smile. “Yea.”

Zach noticed the change in Frankie’s demeanor and cursed to himself. “Sorry, shit, I have a lack of a filter sometimes.”

Frankie shook his head. “It’s okay. I get it. Pine Crest has a reputation.”

“Still,” Zach said. “I probably shouldn’t be saying shit like that when we’ve literally only been married for 5 minutes.”

That brought a real smile back to Frankie’s face, and he took Zach’s hands in his. “Everyone’s going to think we’re absolutely insane.”

Zach laughed. “That’s okay.”

**

After they talked for a few minutes, they were moved into a different room to take pictures with the photographer. They laughed with each other as they moved from pose to pose. They took several serious pictures as well as some silly ones. The photographer had them kiss for some pictures, and it felt natural between them.

**

“It is my honor to introduce to you for the first time ever as husbands, Zach and Frankie!”

They entered the room, hands laced together, to the applause of their families.

“Thank you everyone for joining us here today,” Frankie said. “Let’s eat, dance, and get to know each other.”

Everyone settled at tables to eat, Zach and Frankie at an individual table up on a stage. They spent the meal period getting to know each other some more.

“So you’re Jewish?” Frankie asked before taking a bite of his salad.

Zach nodded. “Yup. And you’re...what was it again?”

Frankie chuckled. “I study Kabbalah, so I’m a Kabbalist. It was my sister’s idea after she saw how bad the Christian churches are when it comes to homosexuality.”

“Right. That’s really sweet of your sister to do that. And you said you have a brother, too?”

“Yea, he lives in New York with my dad and his wife. I see them every few weeks or so when we all have time. Though now he just got a girlfriend a few months ago, so he’s _all_ about that. I was lucky he even showed up today.” Frankie joked. 

Zach laughed. “Well I can’t wait to meet him and your sister and your parents.”

“And Nonna! I’m really excited for you to meet her. She’s going to love you.”

He smiled in return, pushing some food around his plate. “That’s nice that she came. My grandmother didn’t really...well, y’know. She’d be here if you had some different anatomy.”

Frankie covered Zach’s hand with his. “I’m sorry to hear that. She doesn’t accept that you’re gay?”

Zach cleared his throat. “Actually, uh...I’m not, um, I’m actually...well I don’t really like labels, but for all intents and purposes, I’m actually bisexual.” He peaked a glance at Frankie’s face and bit his lip. “Is that okay?”

Frankie took a minute to register what he’d said and then he shook himself out of it, squeezing Zach’s hand. “Of course it’s okay. I just thought -- nevermind, that’s obviously not important. Okay, so...she doesn’t believe in the whole bisexuality thing or she just doesn’t like you being with men?”

Zach shrugged. “Both, I guess. Mostly the being with men part. It’s whatever, you know, I’ve got my parents and my brother and my friends and some other family here. I’m good.”

Frankie gave him a sympathetic look and leaned in, pressing a kiss against his cheek. “You don’t have to put on a brave face for me, you know? I get it. Homophobia -- or biphobia -- isn’t fun. You just have to shine bright and not let it get to you.”

Zach smiled at him, turning his face to give him a small kiss. “Thank you,” he whispered.

**

“I’d like to invite the grooms to the dance floor to share their first dance.”

Frankie offered his hand out to Zach with a wink. Zach giggled and took his hand, following him out to the middle of the dance floor.

They spent most of the song making jokes about how shitty of a song it is, since it was some cheesy thing the show’s producers chose. It was a little awkward at first to figure out how to go about slow dancing, but eventually they figured it out.

“I feel like I’m at prom,” Zach joked. “At least you’re a good leader.”

Frankie grinned. “All my training paid off in this one moment.”

Zach closed his arms around Frankie’s neck some more, leaning their foreheads together. “Can I come see you dance sometime?”

He nodded, smiling back at him. “Of course. I’ll be mad if you don’t.”

**

Frankie gave Zach a nervous look. "Okay, so, you're gonna meet my sister in a minute..."

Zach laughed. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to meet all of your family in a minute."

Frankie smiled a little. "Yea. But...my sister, um...I mean, you obviously didn't notice her during the wedding or you would have said something."

Zach raised an eyebrow at him and took his hand. "I was a little busy looking at you. But you know, just because I'm bi doesn't mean--"

He shook his head quickly. "No, no, it's not about that. I mean you're obviously going to think she's hot, because she is, for sure, but that's not it."

Zach looked confused. "Then what is it?"

Frankie opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by Ari's voice behind Zach.

"Hi! I'm Ariana, your sister in law!"

Zach turned around to face her and he looked at her for a moment before his eyes got wide and he turned back to Frankie. "Holy shit." Frankie bit his lip, looking anxious as Zach turned back to Ari and then back to Frankie. "Dude."

"Yea..." Frankie said.

Zach laughed. "Did I hit my head and dream this whole thing up, or? Oh my god, have you met my little brother yet? He's going to freak," he said to Ari.

She nodded. "Peyton, right? He's a cutie. He said y'all watch my shows."

Zach chuckled. "Well yea, he likes them, so I'll sit with him and watch them sometimes. He thinks Cat's hilarious." He looked over and Frankie and squeezed his hand. "So that's what you were trying to tell me? That your sister's on TV?"

"Kinda."

Zach noticed Frankie fiddling with the edge of the table cloth and took that hand too. "Hey," he said softly. "You okay?"

Frankie plastered on a smile. "Fine."

Zach scooted closer to him. "Look at me. I had an initial freak out that I've watched your sister on TV. Which I think is reasonable. But that doesn't change anything. It's cool that she's famous or whatever, but I'm more interested in you. No offense," he said, glancing over his shoulder at Ari.

She smiled brightly at him. "None taken. That's just the way I want it. Frankie, maybe you should tell him the rest?" She suggested.

Zach turned to Frankie. "The rest?"

"Um...I mean I wouldn't say I'm famous, but...I have a million followers on Twitter, and I do videos on YouTube, and I'm currently on Broadway doing Rock of Ages."

Zach took all this in and laughed to himself. "How did this get even more surreal than before?" 

Frankie shrugged. "It's a lot to take in, I know."

"I'll get used to it," Zach said. "So. Who do I meet next? A famous director? A queen?"

Frankie laughed, feeling less nervous now that Zach was making jokes. He leaned in and kissed Zach's cheek. "Honey, I'm the only queen you need." He winked and stood up, pulling Zach up with him. "How about a CEO and a doctor?"

**

“And this is my little brother Pizzle. He’s the man. Pizz, this is Frankie.”

Peyton rolled his eyes. “Duh.”

Frankie laughed. “Oh, you’re sassy. We’re going to get along great.”

Zach groaned jokingly. “Okay, moving on. This is my best friend and roommate, AJ.”

Frankie shook his hand. “Hey. It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too, man. Actually, funnily enough, I know your friend Lauren.”

Frankie looked surprised. “You do?”

Zach scrunched his eyebrows together. “You do?”

“Yea, we’ve gone out a few times. We were both kind of thrown off when we ran into each other at the wedding.”

“Wait, hot dancer Lauren?” Zach asked.

Frankie grinned. “Oh yea, that’s definitely her. You’ve met her?”

“Once. She and AJ met at our place before dinner one night. Jeez, this is such a small world.”

**

“I was a kid,” Zach laughed.

Frankie giggled. “You’re still a kid. You just graduated from college this year.”

Zach shrugged with a smile on his face. “I still know what I want.”

He smirked, tugging Zach closer to him in the elevator. “Oh yea?”

Zach nodded, leaning into him to kiss him slowly. He was vaguely aware of the camera recording them but found that he didn’t really care. He melted into Frankie’s mouth, savoring every brush of his lips and tongue, and the way his hands caressed his sides.

“Did you see the way our moms were getting along?” Frankie asked as they broke apart. “They looked like friends.”

Zach groaned softly, resting his head on Frankie’s shoulder. “That’s what we’re going to talk about right now?”

He laughed, running a hand through Zach’s hair. “It made me happy. I’m glad our families got along.”

Zach smiled, pressing his lips against Frankie’s neck. “If it made you happy, it made me happy.”

Frankie hummed contentedly. “Jeez, where have you been hiding all my life?” Zach giggled.

“I’m here now.”

Frankie smiled brightly. “Yea, you are.”

The elevator reached their floor and Zach followed Frankie’s lead, the camera still recording them as they walked down the hall, finally reaching their honeymoon suite. 

“You ready?” Frankie asked, smiling at him. 

Zach grinned, winking at him. “Ready.”


	6. The Wedding Night and Morning After

**Zach Rance, 24**

_We just met, and now we’re husbands, and it’s all happened so fast, but I do feel like that connection is already there. I feel like I’ve known Frankie for longer than just six hours. It’s crazy, because I’ve never felt a connection like this with anyone before. This is completely new to me. But I like it. It feels right._

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_This day has just been so romantic. I feel like I’ve been swept off my feet every time I turn around. It’s a fairytale, it really is. I’m very attracted to him, and I can tell there’s an attraction from him too. I don’t know. Whatever we have between us right now, it’s beautiful. It’s magical. I’m very happy._

*****

Zach grinned and leaned down, picking Frankie up bridal style as he unlocked the hotel door. Frankie squealed and giggled, clinging to Zach’s neck as they made it through the doorway, the camera trailing behind them.

“Awww,” Frankie cooed, seeing the rose petals scattered in the shape of the date, 12/13/14, on the bed. “That’s adorable.”

Zach placed Frankie down and wrapped his arms around his waist. “Cute,” he agreed. 

They plopped down on the bed, leaning into each other while the camera filmed them. Zach reached over to lace their fingers together, smiling at Frankie.

Frankie smiled back, leaning in to bring their lips together. Zach sighed into it, kissing him back happily. Frankie slowly pulled back, but kept their faces close together. He nudged their noses together gently, making Zach giggle. “Tell me something about yourself,” Frankie whispered.

“Like what?”

Frankie shrugged. “I don’t know. Anything. I want to know everything about you.”

Zach pondered for a moment and then laughed. “Okay, well...you might think it’s lame, I don’t know. When I was 13, my mom was pregnant with Peyton, and I was, like, through the roof excited. I couldn’t wait. I’d always wanted a little brother, you know? So when mom and dad found out it was a boy, I seriously think I was even happier than they were. I taped a sonogram picture to one of my binders and carried it with me to all my classes and everything.”

Frankie laughed. “Shut up, no you didn’t.”

Zach chuckled. “It’s true, I swear! You can ask my mom next time we see her. I think people thought I got some girl pregnant for a while. I was just so pumped to be getting a little brother. It was literally the best day of my life when he was born. Or, er...second best, y’know, cause of today.” Frankie grinned, shaking his head.

“It’s okay. I know what you mean. That’s really sweet. When Ari was born, that was like the highlight of my life. James too, but I grew up with Ari, so I was always doting on her and going to her shows and helping her get ready for auditions. She’s like my sister and my best friend all rolled into one.”

“I still can’t believe your sister’s famous. Like what the fuck. I mean I liked her casually before, cause Peyton and I would watch her on TV, but now she’s obviously my favorite because she’s your sister.”

“And your sister-in-law,” Frankie corrected. Zach smiled dopily.

“Yea. Cause we’re married.”

**

Frankie held up the small camcorder the show provided for them to do video diaries, making sure they both were in frame as it started recording. The actual cameraman was still there filming them with the camcorder, but they were trying to end out the night so Zach and Frankie could finally be by themselves, so they asked them to do the entry and then they’d leave.

“So today is our wedding day.”

“It is,” Zach added. “It’s been a crazy day, but it’s been pretty perfect so far.”

Frankie grinned at the camcorder. “Zach’s been making me smile pretty much the entire time we’ve known each other so far. He’s sweet and funny and caring and hot…” Frankie trailed off, winking at the camera.

Zach blushed, giggling in embarrassment. “Stahhhhp. You’re perfect.”

“See? He’s so sweet.”

Zach rolled his eyes playfully. "You're seriously the funniest person I've ever met in my entire life."

Frankie cuddled closer to him, making sure they were both still in frame. "Okay, we are officially signing out. Day 1: complete."

"And a lifetime more to go," Zach whispered. Frankie smiled brightly, turning to kiss him slowly.

**

They closed the door behind the cameraman and stared at each other for a moment, leaning against the door. Zach smiled shyly.

“Hi.”

Frankie giggled and grabbed the edge of Zach’s jacket, tugging him into a kiss. Zach made a noise of surprise and brought his hands up to Frankie’s shoulders for leverage, kissing him back eagerly. They were a mess of hands and lips and tongue, continuing to learn each other’s mouths.

Frankie broke away from his mouth and pinned Zach against the door, peppering his neck with kisses and bites. Zach moaned softly, his eyes closing as Frankie sucked a mark into his skin.

“Fuck,” Zach breathed. He pulled Frankie’s face back to his, kissing him hard. He backed Frankie up towards the bed blindly. Frankie started pushing Zach’s jacket off his shoulders, which Zach replicated with Frankie’s.

“This is crazy,” Frankie panted, kissing Zach again.

He nodded. “We shouldn’t.”

“We just met,” Frankie agreed, unbuttoning Zach’s shirt and nipping at his ear.

Zach whined. “Shit, do that again.” Frankie bit at Zach’s ear again, pulling a moan out of him.

Before they knew it, their clothes were scattered on the ground. The only thing that Zach was careful with was his bowtie from Frankie, which he placed down on the table beside the bed.

Zach dropped to his knees in front of Frankie, looking up at him as he licked a stripe up his length. Frankie dragged a hand through Zach’s hair, sighing as he took him into his mouth. 

“Zach,” he whispered. “Fuck, that feels good.”

Zach moaned around him, taking more of him into his mouth until he reached the back of his throat. Frankie swore, moaning and thrusting into Zach’s mouth. Zach continued bobbing his head, occasionally pulling back to catch his breath. Frankie leaned down, tilting Zach’s chin up to kiss him, licking into his mouth messily. He pulled Zach up to stand and pushed him down onto the bed, following him and trailing kisses up his body. He took Zach into his mouth for a moment, sucking enthusiastically, and then continued his way up until he reached his lips. 

He pecked his lips gently and smiled. “Are we really gonna do this?”

Zach nodded, holding Frankie close. “I don’t think I can stop touching you right now.”

Frankie winked at him, sitting up and searching through the table drawer, finding condoms and lube and holding them up to show Zach. “Safe sex, provided by A&E network.” Zach giggled, running his hands up and down Frankie’s sides. “So. Um...I’m good with doing this either way. I don’t know if you have a preference, or…”

Zach blushed. “I don’t. I mean, I’m good either way too. I usually, y’know, top, but...I don’t know.”

Frankie smiled at how embarrassed Zach was getting. He leaned down, kissing him softly. “What do you want? This isn’t as simple as if you were to marry a girl and know who’d be doing the fucking. You’ve got a choice. You said you usually top. Do you like that better?”

He shrugged. “Not necessarily. I was just always nervous about getting it. But I like it. I just usually...do it myself.”

Frankie smirked. “Oh really? Remind me to have you show me sometime.” He licked at Zach’s collarbone. “Let me show you how good I can make you feel. I want to fuck you.”

Zach groaned, feeling heat flooding his body. He nodded. “Okay. Yea. Yea, fuck me.”

He bit down on Zach’s ear, tugging gently. “Okay.” He opened the bottle of lube, pouring some into his hand and spreading them on his fingers. “Turn around, baby.”

Zach bit his lip. “Can we stay like this? I want to see you.” Frankie’s eyes softened and he kissed him for a moment.

“Of course.” 

He moved his hand between Zach’s legs, rubbing one finger against his rim. Zach arched into the touch and moaned. He inched his finger in slowly, working him open.

“Fuck. That feels good.” Frankie licked at Zach’s nipple, moving his finger in and out of Zach’s hole. “Gimme another,” he breathed.

Frankie giggled, nipping Zach’s nipple. “You’re so eager.”

“Told you I knew what I wanted.”

He hummed. “Yes you did.” He guided his middle finger into Zach, spreading the two apart and moving them around to make him loose. 

Zach swore, clinging to the sheets as the tip of Frankie’s finger brushed against his prostate.

Frankie dipped his head down, licking at Zach's tip slowly and making Zach shiver. He smiled, teasing his third finger around Zach's entrance. "So responsive."

Zach huffed out a laugh. "I'm sensitive."

"It's sexy." He kissed beneath Zach's belly button and looked up at him. "Ready for another?"

"Mmm, yea." Frankie guided his third finger in. Zach winced a little, lifting his hips and shifting himself around to alleviate the discomfort. He finally sighed as the pain subsided and he could enjoy the feeling. "It's been awhile since someone else..."

"Good," he winked. He spent a few minutes thrusting his fingers in and out of Zach, making sure he was ready for him. 

Zach whined. "Frankie, please."

"Tell me what you want, love. We have to have open communication."

Zach giggled. "You just want to hear me say that I want you to fuck me."

He hummed, pulling his fingers out but continuing to rub them against Zach's entrance. "I do like the sound of that." He used his free hand to cup Zach's jaw and leaned down to press their lips together. "I'll give you anything you want."

Zach wrapped his arms around Frankie’s waist, kissing him back messily. He moaned as their cocks brushed together, grinding up towards Frankie eagerly. “How about we start with your cock, and I think of other things I want when I’m not so horny?”

Frankie laughed, burying his face in Zach’s neck. “Oh, I can’t wait to get familiar with that dirty mouth of yours.”

He picked up the condom he’d taken out earlier and tore it open, rolling it down his length carefully. He poured some lube into his hand and coated himself, then used what remained on his hand to slide a couple fingers back into Zach. 

“Ready, baby?”

Zach groaned. “C’mon. I’m ready.”

Frankie removed his fingers and lined himself up at Zach’s entrance. He kissed Zach gently and pushed slowly inside him. “Fuck. Zach, you feel so good.”

“ _You_ feel good,” Zach moaned. “God, Frankie, I’m not gonna last very long.”

He shook his head, biting down on Zach’s neck. “Me neither.”

He pulled out a little and thrust back in, caging Zach in and kissing him as much as possible. Zach dug his nails into Frankie’s back and brought his legs up around his waist, getting leverage to grind down onto him. Frankie’s hand gripped Zach’s thigh, rolling into his body and pulling as many sounds out of Zach’s mouth as he could.

The way they moved together felt natural, like they’d been doing it forever. It was like they could communicate without speaking, just knowing what the other needed. There was passion and need and a raw energy between them.

Zach peppered kisses from Frankie’s shoulder to his mouth, licking at his bottom lip and sealing their mouths together. 

“Shit, right there. Harder.” Zach pressed his head against the pillow, his eyes closing in pleasure as Frankie picked up his pace, pushing harder into Zach and hitting that spot inside him that made his body feel like it was on fire.

Zach bit back a groan, clinging to Frankie as the flames took over and he came hard between them. Frankie kissed his temple, his cheek, his lips, running his hands along his skin and making Zach feel completely overwhelmed. 

Frankie moaned as Zach clenched around him, continuing to thrust inside him until he came inside the condom. Zach held Frankie close and kissed him until they couldn’t breathe anymore.

“I don’t know if it’s because we’re married and I feel more connected to you than anyone else, or if it’s just you in general, but I’m almost positive that was the best sex I’ve ever had.”

Frankie laughed breathlessly, nodding in agreement as he pulled out and removed the condom, tying it and tossing it in the trash beside the bed. He pressed a kiss against Zach’s temple as he cuddled into him. “For me too.”

Zach rested his head on Frankie’s chest, indulging in the warm happy feeling he had. Frankie’s hand caressed up and down his back, and Zach closed his eyes as he trailed his fingers along Frankie’s arm. It was a nice and comfortable silence, letting them soak in the moment.

“What do you want to do about our last names?” Frankie asked a few minutes later, breaking them from their bubble. They’d been indecisive after the wedding about which last name to take, so they’d left them as is for the time being.

Zach sighed, burying his face in Frankie’s chest. “I don’t know. I mean, I get why you were unsure, because you’re known for your last name, so I can’t ask you to take mine. And I don’t want to take yours until I prove to you that I’m in this relationship for you, not for you and your sister’s name. I can tell that’s something you’re worried about.”

Frankie shrugged. “It’s happened before.”

Zach sat up a little, looking in Frankie’s eyes. “Did any of those guys marry you without knowing anything about you or your family? I might know now, but I came into this to get married and to get to know my husband and love him and start a life together, not to be Ariana Grande’s brother-in-law. I don’t care about that. And I’ll spend the next six weeks proving to you that I’m yours if that’s what it takes. Okay?”

Frankie reached up, rubbing Zach’s earlobe between his finger and thumb with a small smile on his face. “I hope so.”

“I will,” he whispered, leaning his head into Frankie’s touch. He kissed Frankie lightly and cuddled back into his arms. “Why don’t we just hold off on the last name thing until the end of this experiment and see how we feel then? For now, we can go by something else.”

Frankie laughed. “Like what? Just have everyone call us Zach and Frankie for the next six weeks?”

Zach shook his head. “We could do one of those combination names. Y’know, like Brangelina or whatever,” he suggested.

He smiled at Zach. “Okay, so what’s our couple name, then?”

Zach thought for a moment and then lit up as it popped into his head. “Zankie.”

*****

“Good morning,” Frankie sang, crawling back into bed and wrapping his arms around Zach’s waist after having let the cameraman into their suite. He kissed his shoulder, his neck, and his ear, making Zach giggle and back into him.

“Morning,” Zach laughed. “You can keep doing that.”

“Oh I can, can I?” he teased. He tossed a leg over Zach’s hips, crawling on top of him and attacking him with kisses. Zach squealed and wrapped his arms around Frankie’s waist tightly.

“Get off me!” He thrust upward, trying to buck Frankie off of him despite his death grip on him. His giggles echoed through the room. “Get off of me!” He felt himself getting hard as Frankie kept bouncing in his lap and kissing whatever skin he could find. It made him more aware of the camera in the room and he let go of Frankie, letting him drop down to lay beside him.

Zach turned towards him, smiling sleepily. He reached over to run his hand through Frankie’s hair, which had been flattened in his sleep. “How’s it feel to be married?”

Frankie grinned as he remembered the day before. “It feels good.”

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

 

_I woke up and realized...there’s a stranger in my bed. And I’ve married him. It’s crazy. We did have sex last night. But it was more than that. It didn’t feel like just sex, it felt passionate and intimate and meaningful. It’s been just under 24 hours since we met, but I already feel like we’ve been together for a long time. If it weren’t for the fact that I only know a few basic things about him, I wouldn’t feel like he’s a stranger at all._

**

“Post-wedding night breakfast for my husband,” Frankie announced, bringing in a tray of food they’d ordered.

Zach smiled brightly, sitting up in bed and making room for Frankie to put the tray down. “Smells good.” He tilted his head up, waiting for a kiss, which Frankie gave him happily.

“Mmm. How do you take your coffee?”

“Uh...I don’t, usually. I mostly just go for apple or orange juice or a shake.”

Frankie mock gasped. “No coffee? Who did I marry?!”

Zach laughed. “It’s not a big deal. I drink it sometimes, I just prefer juice or a shake.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “You’re bizarre. Fine, more coffee for me, then.” He handed him a cup of orange juice and kissed his cheek. “Here you go, you freak of nature,” he said fondly.

“Thank you,” Zach said, giggling a little.

Frankie grabbed the envelope off the tray and sat beside Zach. “Would you like to do the honors?”

Zach took a sip of his juice. “You go ahead.”

Frankie shrugged and opened up the envelope, pulling the card out and reading it aloud. “Zach and Frankie, Congratulations. We hope love grows between you on your honeymoon under the warmth of the Puerto Rico sun! With love from your wedding party.”

Zach let out a happy sigh. “Thank god, somewhere warm.”

Frankie laughed, leaning into the kiss Zach pressed against his lips. “We definitely hit the jackpot. Ahhh, that means I can wear my speedos.”

Zach hummed. “Sounds appealing. Zankie takes Puerto Rico. Let’s do it.”

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_We did...we consummated the marriage last night. It felt very natural and normal. There’s something about Frankie that makes me feel...good. Special. Important. I’m someone who, y’know, likes to cuddle and kiss and just be intimate with someone. And I think Frankie picked up on that and he can just give me all of that without thinking about it. We don’t have to think about what we’re doing, because it just flows so naturally between us. I’m excited for us to go on our honeymoon and continue to learn about each other._

**

“I’m excited to meet Tiger when we get back home,” Frankie said, taking a bite of his eggs.

He smiled. “I can’t wait. Tiger is like my son. I want you to love each other.”

Frankie chuckled. “I’m sure we will, Daddy.”

Zach busted out laughing at the change in Frankie’s voice. “What was that?”

He giggled. “It’s my Marilyn Monroe voice, Daddy. Do you like it?” he repeated in his feminine voice. He changed back to his normal voice. “It’s one of my many voices I do. You’ll get used to it.”

Zach tampered down his laughter, leaning into Frankie and resting his forehead on his shoulder. “It’s cute. I like it.”

**

They bumped shoulders teasingly as they stood beside each other in the bathroom, brushing their teeth. Zach spit into the sink and pressed a loud kiss against Frankie’s cheek, then returning to brushing his teeth. Frankie smiled around his toothbrush, feeling like he was the very definition of heart eyes as he looked at Zach in the mirror. Zach winked at him flirtatiously and Frankie spit his excess toothpaste into the sink, rinsed his mouth and stood straight, smiling at Zach. He wrapped his arms around Zach’s waist, resting his chin on his shoulder.

“You’re taking forever,” he whined playfully.

Zach chuckled, spitting into the sink again. “I brush my teeth for a long time. Oral hygiene is important.”

He put on a mock serious face. “Oh I agree, oral is very important.”

Zach blushed and giggled, winking at him again. He bent down to rinse his mouth in the sink, laughing as Frankie pressed his groin against Zach’s ass. “Frankie!” 

Frankie kissed the crook of his neck softly. “C’mon, slow poke. Time to get packing.”

He smacked Zach’s ass as he walked away, tossing a wink over his shoulder as he went.

**

Frankie laughed as Zach came back in with a bright pink suitcase. “Wow. That’s very bright.”

Zach laughed with him. “It’s my favorite color. And it’s really hard to lose. Do you hate it?”

“Are you kidding? I love it.”

They started packing their things in each of their suitcases, laughing at each other as they went. Frankie tackled him onto the bed as they finished up, kissing him eagerly. Zach cupped his face gently, taking his time to brush their lips together, licking into his mouth, feeling Frankie’s hands burning their way beneath his shirt and across his skin. He sighed into Frankie’s mouth, smiling as they pulled away.

“I’m so ready for this honeymoon,” Zach whispered.

Frankie grinned. “Me too. Let’s go.”

**

“So we are on our way to Puerto Rico,” Frankie said in another accent to the camcorder as they walked through the airport. 

Zach laughed. “Which accent is that?”

“This is Rhinestone Silversmith,” he said, still in the accent. “He’s completely heterosexual, except when he’s not, which is all of the time.”

Zach giggled into Frankie’s shoulder. “You’re so funny, oh my god.”

**

“How do you feel about the Mile High Club?” Zach asked on the plane after turning the camcorder on. 

Frankie smirked at the screen. “Why don’t you ask me that again in the bathroom?”

**

“Good afternoon, Mr. and Mr. Grande-Rance. We see you’re here on your honeymoon. Congratulations.”

Zach and Frankie shared a look at their last names hyphenated, laughing a little as they checked into their hotel.

When they got up to their room, they pop open the bottle of champagne, clinking their glasses together.

“To keeping an open mind and learning as much as we can about each other.”

Zach smiled. “Cheers.” They shared a kiss and sipped their champagne, smiling at each other over the glass.

**

“This has been really nice,” Frankie said, lacing their hands together across the dinner table. 

“It has,” Zach agreed. “A full day complete. I’m amazed you haven’t gone running for the hills already.”

Frankie smiled and squeezed his hand. “I’d rather be running towards you than away from you.” 

Zach rolled his eyes playfully. “Stahhhp.”

“I’m serious,” he said, the smile still on his face. “It’s crazy how comfortable we are with each other already. It’s like…”

“Like we’ve known each other for longer than since yesterday,” Zach finished. “I didn’t know it was possible to feel this comfortable with someone so immediately.”

“Me neither. The experts have impressed me thus far.” 

Zach gave him a cheesy grin. “You want to call it a night?”

Frankie smirked. “Love to.”

**

The next morning, Zach and Frankie got ready and headed to the pool to get some sun. 

Zach found himself staring as Frankie removed his shorts, revealing a small camouflage swimsuit. He watched him bend over to put his clothes and a towel onto one of the chairs beside the pool and groaned softly.

“Why did we leave the hotel, again? All I want to do is take that off you.”

Frankie gave him a flirty look over his shoulder and then walked over to him, wrapping his arms around his waist. “Later. I promise.”

**

After swimming for a little bit, they relaxed in the loungers by the pool, soaking in some sun. 

“What was the first thing you noticed about me when the doors opened?” Frankie asked.

Zach laughed. “You mean aside from the glitter?” Frankie stuck his tongue out playfully, laughing along with him. Zach gave Frankie a serious look. “Your eyes. And your smile. You have these big, expressive eyes. And the little gap between your teeth just made me smile. Everything about you just draws me in. I can’t explain it.”

Frankie felt like his heart was melting and his face was about to crack from smiling so hard. “Aren’t you just the sweetest little love of my life?”

Zach giggled and blushed, breaking eye contact with him. He eventually met his gaze again, giving him a shy smile. “What about me? What was the first thing you noticed?”

Frankie reached across the space between them, grabbing his hand to lace their fingers back together. “Your smile, without a doubt. When you’re happy, it’s like it has a life of its own and says everything that needs to be said. It’s cute.”

Zach exhaled heavily, running his thumb across the back of Frankie’s hands. “You already mean a lot to me,” he admitted. “Do you know that?”

He leaned over to press a kiss against Zach’s hand, smiling sweetly at him. “You mean a lot to me too.”


	7. The Honeymoon

“And he was like ‘What are you talking about? He’s fucking perfect! Shut up.’ And that was pretty much it.”

Zach held Frankie’s hand in his against his chest, giving him a comforting smile. “Grandpa Frank was the man.”

“He really was.” He cleared his throat and squeezed Zach’s hand, looking over at him. “What about you? What’s your coming out story?”

Zach hesitated, glancing at the camera. Frankie tugged on his hand a little, getting his attention. Zach took a deep breath and focused on their hands as he recounted the story. “There was this guy. He was really nice and we always hung out during frat parties and all that. We were into each other, but we weren’t really sure if it was okay to make a move. So finally he asked me out, and I agreed. We went to this bar off campus after dinner and played pool. We were flirting all night and everything was going really well, which surprised me, I guess, because it was my first date with a guy. So then it was getting kind of late, and he had an early class the next morning, so I told him to just go back to his place and I’d walk back to the frat house since it was only a short walk from there. So he kissed me against the pool table, and it was the first time I’d kissed a guy while I was sober, and it felt as normal as when I kiss girls, which I guess kind of confirmed everything for me.”

Frankie waited as Zach paused, then pulled his hand to his mouth to kiss the back of it. “You’re leaving something out. I can tell.”

Zach bit his lip. “That guy left the bar and went home. I stayed to play pool for a little longer. There was this other guy at the bar who I guess saw us kissing. After my date left, he came over to my table and started...calling me anything he could think of. Fairy. Pole smoker. Fag. Asked if I had AIDS,” he spit out. Frankie held his hand tightly. “I’d never had to deal with all that being thrown at me before. I flipped out, and I said some shit back to him, and, well...he beat the shit out of me. Got a black eye, needed plastic surgery to fix my cheekbone that he shattered, and they had to fix my eardrum because he punched me in the ear. It still rings all the time, but sometimes I can ignore it. Sometimes, though, it gets really painful and loud and it gives me really bad headaches. That’s what this scar behind my ear is from.”

Frankie leaned in and kissed the scar lightly. His eyes felt damp after Zach’s story and he cuddled into him, holding him close. “So what happened after that?” he asked quietly.

Zach sighed, running his fingers along Frankie’s arm. “Well my mom freaked out, until I told her I was mouthing off to the guy, cause I wasn’t sure I was ready to come out yet. But then it turned into some joke with my family and friends, after they were sure I was okay, that maybe now I’d learn to keep my mouth shut and I finally got what was coming to me. And it really fucking sucked. I had to take the rest of my senior year off so I could recover, I got anxiety anytime I saw someone who looked like him, and I couldn’t even see that guy I went on a date with because part of me blamed him for what happened. Eventually, I realized that the guy who beat the shit out of me still had power over me. I was letting what happened to me take over. So when my parents made another joke about how I should listen better or something like that might happen again, I couldn’t keep it in anymore. I told them that I’d said all the stuff I did because that guy saw me making out with another guy and said a bunch of homophobic shit to me. They asked if I was gay, and I said I didn’t think so, that I still liked girls, but that I liked guys too. And as I got more familiar with all that and the LGBT community, I realized that people have a lot of negative connotations about the word bisexual, so I usually just stick to no labels and elaborate if needed.”

Frankie frowned and reached up, pulling Zach into a kiss. “I’m so sorry you went through all that. That must have been terrifying.”

Zach shrugged. “It’s over. I don’t like to think or talk about it that often.”

Frankie leaned their foreheads together. “Thank you for telling me about it.”

He gave Frankie a soft smile. “You’re my husband. I want to tell you everything about me. The good and the bad.”

**

Zach swam beneath the water, not coming back up until he reached Frankie’s legs, grabbing them and tossing him into the air. He broke out of the water just in time to hear Frankie laughing before crashing down into the water a couple feet away. He giggled, pushing his hair back and wiping the water out of his eyes as he waited for Frankie to come back up.

Frankie popped up, pushing Zach under the surface for a second and then wrapping his arms around him as he stood back up. He was grateful that the camera was stuck filming them from the beach and that there were no microphones, allowing him the illusion of alone time with his husband. Zach slid his hands down to grab Frankie’s ass, holding him close as they kissed.

“You’re so hot,” Zach groaned into his mouth. “I want to fuck you so bad.”

Frankie nipped at Zach’s lower lip and sucked it into his mouth. “Soon, my love. We just have to spend some time outside of the hotel room for the show.”

He pouted, squeezing Frankie’s ass. “You’d think they’d want us to spend our honeymoon locked in our room.”

Frankie played with Zach’s ear and smiled at him. “Maybe, but that doesn’t really provide them with much material for the show if they’re just filming our closed hotel room,” he teased. He kissed the pout off Zach’s face and gave him a flirty look. “C’mon. Let’s swim some more and I’ll let you feel me up under the water.”

**

Frankie swallowed the bite of food he’d taken and took a sip of wine. “So why’d you apply for this show?”

Zach paused halfway through putting his food in his mouth. “Uh...I thought that was an obvious answer.”

“I mean, what do you want out of this? How do you see a marriage as being? You’re fresh out of college. I guess I’m just curious as to why now? I don’t know many 24 year olds who are willing to give up the rest of their 20s to marry someone they don’t even know.”

Zach took a moment to take his bite of food, chewing it thoughtfully. “Um, well...I think the last year and some change that I’ve been out, I’ve learned what I want. When I first came out, y’know, I felt so...free, I guess, that I went on a bit of a slutty phase for a couple months and hooked up with whoever I could, male or female. And it was fun, but that’s not what I want. I like having actual feelings for someone and being with them instead of just messing around. It’s hard meeting people who want something serious. People my age want to focus on their jobs or having fun, and I’d rather settle down and find someone who loves me like I love them.”

Frankie raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t remember the last time I heard a 24 year old say they want to settle down.”

Zach snorted. “You act like you’re 20 years older than me. We don’t have that big of an age difference. What did you want at 24?”

“Sex.”

"Well I obviously want sex too. I think I’ve showed you that.”

Frankie grinned. “Several times.” He reached his foot forward to rub against Zach’s leg, winking at him before turning serious again. “I just want to make sure that this -- marriage, this forever commitment -- is really something you want at this point in your life.”

Zach sighed, leaning against the table. “Six months ago, I would’ve told you that marriage was the last thing on my mind. And honestly, there was probably a part of me when I filled out the application for this show that still wasn’t thinking of forever. But now I’m here and I’m getting to know you and learning what it means to be a husband, and I like it. I like it more than I thought I ever would. It’s only been four days, but I already can’t imagine what life would be like without you in it.”

Frankie looked in awe for a moment and found himself blushing a little, which was something he rarely ever did. “Why are you so perfect?”

Zach smiled shyly and broke eye contact with him. “I’m not perfect. I just want to be the husband you deserve. Fate brought us together. I really believe that.”

“If we weren’t married already, I think I would propose to you right now.”

He giggled. “I’m serious. Think about it. We were both born in New York, grew up in Florida only to move back to New York, we were both in frats, we came out a year before we graduated college, we have younger siblings we love to death, we’re obsessed with our dogs, we applied to this show on the same season and got paired together. It would be stupid of me to not think we’re soulmates.”

Frankie rested his chin in his hand on the table and smiled at him. “Okay, I’m going to do it anyway. Will you marry me?”

Zach grinned and reached across the table to grab Frankie’s free left hand, thumbing at the wedding ring on his finger. “Of course.”

**

“Okay I have no idea what I’m doing, so you’re going to have to teach me.”

Zach grinned, coming up behind Frankie and sliding his hands down to hold Frankie’s around the golf club. “I can do that,” he murmurs into Frankie’s ear. He giggled as Frankie pressed his ass back against him. “You just have to focus.”

Frankie hummed, leaning his head back against Zach’s shoulder as Zach ran a hand down his hip. “I’m very focused.”

He chuckled against Frankie’s neck, kissing it slowly. “Not yet. You promised I could teach you how to golf first.”

Frankie whined. “Why was I thinking with my brain and not with my penis?”

Zach buried his laugh in Frankie’s neck. “You’re seriously the funniest person I’ve ever met in my entire life. You make me laugh so much.”

He tilted his head to give Zach a quick kiss. "Good. Okay, so how do I do this?"

Zach rested his hands on Frankie’s hips, trailing one down the leg facing the course. “With your driver, you want to put it towards your front foot. So move your back leg here,” he said, grabbing the thigh of Frankie’s back leg and positioning his leg where he wanted it. “Then with your arms, you’re going to lift back, almost like you’re taking a swing in baseball, and then you’re going to swing back to the ball and follow through to the other side.”

Frankie exhaled heavily as Zach stepped back from him, giving him room to swing. Frankie tried remembering everything Zach told him and took a swing. He gasped as he hit the ball and it went flying onto the course. “Holy shit! I did it!”

Zach laughed, watching as Frankie stared at where his ball had gone. He grabbed Frankie’s hand and pulled him closer. “Good job, babe.”

Frankie grinned as Zach kissed him, hooking his arm around Zach’s neck. “Thank you, honey. You’re a good teacher.” He looked over his shoulder towards the course again and laughed a little. “Never thought I’d be one to play golf.”

He shrugged, putting his arm around Frankie as he lead him back to the golf cart. “Well, I want you to like it. It’s one of my favorite things to do to relax and clear my head. I don’t get to do it much now that I’m in New York and working all the time, but whenever I’m in Florida, Peyton and I are practically always golfing.”

“You sound like a really great big brother,” Frankie said, kissing Zach’s cheek softly.

**

Frankie cursed. “This is harder than I thought.”

“You’re doing great. Seriously, for someone who doesn’t play golf, you’re doing much better than expected.”

He pouted as his ball skimmed right by the hole. “Y’know, getting it in the hole is usually a lot easier for me.”

Zach busted out laughing. “Frankieeeeee.”

Frankie winked at him, drawing him into a slow kiss. “It is. I don’t even have to try all that hard to get a hole in Zach.”

Zach blushed, burying his face in Frankie’s neck. “Frankie, the cameras.”

He smiled, his hand running through Zach’s hair. “Relax.”

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_Spending this time with Zach is really nice. We’re doing things I like, we’re doing things he likes, and we’re really getting to know each other on this trip. It was nice having Zach take the lead while we were playing golf and teaching me the ropes. I wish this didn’t have to end, because I honestly just love being with him and not having to worry about anything but each other._

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_I think Frankie enjoyed himself today, which was nice because I love to golf, and I love it even more with Frankie there with me. Everything’s better with him there beside me and him showing interest in things I like to do. And while I don’t want this to end, I kinda can’t wait to get home and be able to see him in his element performing onstage._

**

“It’s crazy how much I l-like, I like you.” Frankie smiled at Zach from his spot beside him on the bed, Zach holding his hand comfortably.

“I know. This has been such a crazy few days. But I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

Zach brought Frankie’s hand to his lips, kissing the back lightly. “What are we gonna do about the holidays when we get back home? Like, what was your plan before this all happened?”

“Well,” Frankie started. “I was going to take a few days off at the theatre and fly to Florida to spend time with my family. Ari’s got some time off, so it was going to be us and mommy and nonna. But I don’t think I can do that now.”

“How come?”

Frankie looked at the cameras and back to Zach. “Not only can I not really afford anymore time off, but now we’ve got a camera crew. What about you, what were your plans?”

Zach chuckled. “Take time off and fly to Florida. Same as you. Granted, Hanukkah is already half over. Usually on the last day, we go to my grandmother’s and have a big meal. Then Christmas Day, we either go to the movies or sometimes I’ll go over to a friend’s house and we’ll chill.”

“Maybe we can both go to Florida, then. Have a camera come with us, or just vlog everything. Then we can spend the holidays with our families.” He dropped his gaze, squeezing Zach’s hand. “It’s the first Christmas since my grandfather died. I really want to be with my family.”

Zach softened his gaze and pulled Frankie into his arms, kissing his head. “We’ll figure it out. We’ll make it work. Don’t worry.”

**

“Mmm, I’m glad you love to cuddle as much as I do,” Frankie said as Zach rested his back against his chest after they settled into the jacuzzi in their room.

Zach giggled, leaning his head back. “It makes me feel closer to you. I mean, sex is...great, really. But this almost feels like it’s more intimate. Does that make sense?”

Frankie let his hands drift on the surface of the water. “It does. Sex is important, but cuddling is important too. A relationship can’t be based just on sex. Otherwise we’re not going anywhere from here.”

He pressed a kiss against Zach’s neck, relaxing into the water. Zach leaned his forehead into Frankie’s neck. “I want to go somewhere from here.”

“Me too,” Frankie said, kissing his head. He let them sit in silence for a few minutes, just relaxing in the moment. When he thought Zach was completely unaware, he reached his hands down to Zach’s sides and started tickling him furiously.

Zach laughed loudly, trying to squirm away from Frankie’s fingers. “Stop! Oh my god, you win, you win! I can’t breathe!” he gasped in between laughs. He giggled as Frankie’s fingers made their way up under his arms. “Frankie! Oh my god, I can’t.”

Frankie laughed and stopped his tickling, wrapping his arms around Zach’s waist and tugging him closer, kissing the space beneath Zach’s ear. “You have the cutest laugh.”

Zach giggled, trying to calm himself down. “Frankie, you’re the fucking man, I love you.” And then he froze, and Frankie didn’t need to be seeing his face to know his eyes were wide. “Uh, I mean--I didn’t mean, like, in lo--I’m an idiot, ignore me.”

Frankie was a little caught off guard, but he didn’t feel freaked out. He brought his hands up to rub at Zach’s shoulders, which were now tense. “I know what you meant. It’s okay.” He turned Zach’s face towards his and saw the nervous look on his face. He gave him a reassuring smile and kissed him slowly. He licked his way into Zach’s mouth and reveled in the sound Zach made. As they pulled away, Frankie smiled at him again. “I love you too.”


	8. The Holidays

“Fuck,” Frankie groaned, clinging to the sheets as Zach continued thrusting into him. “Zach, I think the camera’s here.” As if to confirm what he’d said, there was another knock at the hotel door.

Zach paused inside him. “What do we do?”

Frankie closed his eyes and pushed backwards on Zach. “Don’t stop. They can wait.”

He leaned down, sucking a mark into Frankie’s neck and pressing Frankie’s face into the pillow. “Stay quiet, then.”

And then he was fucking into Frankie again, one hand on the back of Frankie’s head and the other on his hip. Frankie let out a muffled moan as Zach picked up the pace, giving it to him hard and fast. He held himself over Frankie’s body, sweat threatening to drip off his skin. 

“Fuck! Zach, c’mon, baby, right there. Oh my god, fuck me,” Frankie whimpered. 

Zach bit down on Frankie’s shoulder roughly, slamming into him. “Shit, Frankie...feel so good. I’m gonna come.”

It had been a while since Zach topped, since he hadn’t fucked anyone during the whole process of applying for the show. And while he was pretty sure he preferred bottoming with Frankie, getting to fuck him felt really good too. 

Frankie reached his hand up behind him to grasp at the hair on the back of Zach’s head. He pulled Zach’s mouth to his, tilting his head backwards at an almost uncomfortable angle. They kissed messily and Frankie moaned into his mouth as Zach hit his prostate. 

Zach shoved Frankie’s face back into the pillow and fucked him faster until they were both coming with loud groans.

Zach rested his head against Frankie’s shoulder, breathing heavily as he recuperated. He pulled out, taking off the condom and disposing of it in the trash. Frankie rolled over and cuddled into him, dropping a kiss against his lips. Zach deepened it, holding him close. They both groaned when another knock was heard at the door.

“If we weren’t leaving today, I’d say we just keep ignoring them and go again,” Frankie whispered, trailing kisses down Zach’s neck. “That was amazing.”

Zach hummed in agreement, squeezing Frankie close to him for one more moment. “I need a shower.”

Frankie sat up, stretching for a long moment and drawing Zach’s eyes back to his body. He caught Zach’s gaze and winked, making Zach blush. He crawled into Zach’s lap, wrapping his arms around his neck. “How about you go hop in the shower and I’ll let them in and meet you in there in a minute?” he suggested.

Zach bit his lip as Frankie pressed their bodies together, feeling his dick twitch in interest despite the fact that he’d just come. “Okay. I’ll meet you in there.”

Frankie climbed out of the bed, tossing a pair of his undies on. Zach grabbed his hand before he could make it to the door, pulling him into another kiss. He giggled into Frankie’s mouth as the cameraman knocked again.

“Love you,” Zach said, smiling cheekily at him.

Frankie smiled brightly. “Love you too.”

Zach made his way into the bathroom, not putting any clothes on on the way so Frankie could watch him go. Frankie shook his head with a smile as Zach closed the door behind him. He opened the hotel room door and gave the cameraman a fake apologetic look. He smirked as the man caught a glimpse of the few hickeys Zach had sucked into his skin this morning.

“Zach just went to start the shower. You can come in and wait if you want while we clean up.”

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_Zach and I have known each other for a week now. Sometimes it feels like much longer, and other times it feels like our wedding was just yesterday. I think we learned a lot about each other on our honeymoon. He feels like my best friend as well as my husband. And now I'm excited for us to fly to Florida and be with our families for the holidays before we go back home to New York._

**

"Zach," Frankie breathed, his head leaning up against the plane's bathroom door. "Jeez, baby, when you wanted to come in here, I thought I'd be the one blowing you."

Zach pulled off and replaced his mouth with his hand, smiling up at Frankie as he jerked him off. "This calms me down."

Frankie laughed quietly. "Feel free to calm yourself down whenever you want." He dug his hand into Zach’s hair, tugging gently.

Zach blushed and smiled at him, ducking his head back in to take Frankie in his mouth.

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_We’re here in Florida for the holidays. Hanukkah is almost over, but we plan on spending a few days with my family for the end of it, and then we’re going to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with Frankie’s family. This will be my first official Christmas, so I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited to spend more time with his family and mine now that we’re past the wedding and the honeymoon._

**

“You’re seriously the smartest, funniest person I’ve ever met in my entire life.”

Frankie smiled at him and reached up to rub Zach’s ear between his fingers. “You’re the sweetest. But we’re not having sex in the car.”

Zach giggled, blushing as he glanced at the cameraman sitting across from them in the car. “That’s not what I was trying to do.”

He winked at Zach. “It’s okay, honey, I know how insatiable you are,” he teased.

“Frankie,” Zach whined. “Don’t make fun.”

“Aww, I’m sorry, sweetie, I’m just kidding.” He pressed a kiss against Zach’s cheek. “You know I’m insatiable too,” he whispered into Zach’s ear, despite knowing the microphones would pick it up, and nipped at his lobe playfully.

“You’re too much,” Zach laughed. Frankie laced their hands together, smiling as he shifted his gaze outside the window, watching the Florida highway speed by.

**

“Hey Ma,” Zach said, wrapping his arms around her as she opened the door.

“Zachary. I’m glad you could come home for a few days.” She hugged him tightly. 

Zach smiled. “Me too.” He stepped away from her and put his hand on Frankie’s lower back. “You remember Frankie.”

Jill gave Frankie a smile. “Hello, Frankie. It’s nice to see you again.”

Frankie smiled back and accepted her hug. “Nice to see you too, uh...Mrs. Rance? Jill? I don’t know what you want me to call you,” he said, laughing a little.

“Jill is fine,” she said. “Kevin and Peyton are in the living room. Come on in.”

They dropped their luggage in Zach’s old room and then came back into the living room, hugging Kevin and Peyton in greeting. Zach crouched down as Bella circled around his feet.

“Hey girl. How you doing, Bella? Long time no see.”

Frankie smiled, running his hand through Zach’s hair. “When was the last time you were home?”

Zach looked up at him as he scratched behind Bella’s ears. “Uh, September. Right before Peyton started school again.”

“She’s a cutie. Looks like Ophelia.” Frankie pet Bella’s head and smiled as she licked his wrist. “Hey sweetie.”

Zach stood up and pressed a kiss against Frankie’s cheek before leading him over to the couch.

“So, tell us about the honeymoon,” Kevin said. “How was Puerto Rico?”

“It was...hot,” Zach said, glancing at Frankie and winking at him. Kevin and Jill groaned.

“Zachary, not in front of your brother,” Jill chastised. 

Zach pulled an innocent look. “What? I was talking about the weather! Y’know, among other things.” Peyton giggled, making Jill shake her head and sigh.

Frankie rolled his eyes playfully at Zach, linking their hands together. “Puerto Rico was beautiful, Kevin. We had some delicious meals, we went swimming, Zach taught me how to golf. It was amazing.”

Peyton perked up. “He taught you how to golf? Does that mean we can go to the range?”

Zach chuckled. “Maybe.”

“Definitely,” Frankie corrected. “I need to get to know my new brother-in-law.”

“He’s your only brother-in-law,” Zach retorted.

“Even more important for me to get to know him better, then,” he replied, sticking his tongue out at Zach. He turned his attention back to Peyton. “We’ll definitely go play before Zach and I go to Boca.”

“Sweet!”

Zach grinned at Frankie, squeezing his hand. 

**

Zach smiled at Frankie as he leaned against the kitchen counter. He watched Frankie grabbing the plates and silverware Jill had set on the island and bringing them to the table, setting it for dinner. He reached for Frankie’s hand as he walked by him to grab some cups, stopping his movement. 

“You didn’t have to agree to golfing with Pizzle, you know. He would’ve gotten over it.”

Frankie shrugged, smiling at him. “I want to get to know him better. He’s your brother. And he’s part of my family now. I don’t know when the next time we’ll be down here is, so I want to take the opportunity now.”

Zach felt butterflies in his chest. “Well, it means a lot to me.”

Frankie crowded him into the counter and smiled softly at him. “I know. That’s why it means a lot to me.”

The butterflies got bigger as Frankie kissed him and he had to fight his smile to kiss him back, holding Frankie’s hips in his hands.

“I love you,” Zach said, leaning their foreheads together.

Frankie pressed another kiss against his lips. “I love you too, honey.”

“Oh,” they heard behind them. Zach looked over Frankie’s head to see Jill behind him. “That was...fast.”

Zach rolled his eyes a little and stepped away from Frankie. “Relax, Ma. Frankie and I have already discussed it. It’s not an ‘in love’ love--”

“--Yet,” Frankie added in, making Zach smile.

“Yet,” he agreed. “It’s just, like, a best friend love. A best friend that I just have sex with and am married to.” He winked at Frankie.

Frankie laughed at him and pushed him away playfully. “Put the cups on the table, please.”

“Yes dear,” Zach teased, dropping a kiss against his cheek before grabbing the cups.

**

“Honey, can you go get us some waters, please?” Frankie asked, batting his eyes at Zach.

Zach looked from Frankie to Peyton and back, nodding. “Sure, babe. Be right back.”

“Thank you,” he mouthed, blowing Zach a kiss as he walked away.

Frankie grabbed his club again and stood back in his spot beside Peyton, a pile of golf balls at his feet. He hit a couple of them before glancing at Peyton, who was hitting the balls with ease.

“So what do you think about all this? It’s kinda crazy, huh?”

Peyton shrugged. “I guess. But it’s kinda cool. Zach couldn’t get a date to save his life before, and now he’s married.”

Frankie laughed, swinging at another golf ball. “He didn’t date?”

“He dated a little, I guess. But he was never interested in anyone enough to be their boyfriend.”

“Must’ve been a surprise to you when he decided to be someone’s husband then.”

He laughed a little. “Yea.”

Frankie stopped hitting the balls and turned his complete attention to Peyton. “I guess I just...I want to make sure you know that you’re part of my family now, and I want you to like me as much as you like Zach, or as close to it as you can. I really like your brother. And I don’t think I need to tell you how much he loves you. When we found out we’d get to come down for the holidays, he couldn’t shut up about you.”

Peyton smiled brightly. “I miss him when he’s in New York.”

Frankie put his arm around Peyton’s shoulder and smiled at him. “Well, I travel a lot, but I make sure to come back to Florida every six weeks or so. How about I make sure to drag Zach along with me?”

“Really?” Frankie nodded. “That’d be awesome!”

“What would be awesome?” Zach asked, approaching them from behind.

“Frankie said he’d bring you back to Florida when he visits every six weeks!”

Zach looked at Frankie. “Oh he did, did he?” 

Frankie shrugged at him, smiling a little as he went back to his pile of golf balls. Zach wrapped his arms around his waist, resting his chin in the crook of Frankie’s neck. “Yea, you really don’t have a choice, sorry,” he joked.

Zach hummed, kissing Frankie’s shoulder. “You’re perfect,” he whispered.

**

Frankie glanced over at Zach in the car, noting how he had his arms crossed over his chest and was looking out the window silently. He cleared his throat.

“Everyone’s really excited to see you,” he said. “Especially Ari. Though, she’s generally excited around Christmas, so…”

Zach nodded, not taking his eyes off the window. Frankie waited for a moment, expecting him to say something, and sighing when he got nothing.

“Are you okay?” Frankie asked.

“M’fine.”

Frankie raised his eyebrow at him. “Oh yea? Because you haven’t said a word to me since we left your house. Did I do something?”

“Nope.”

“So you’re just going to sit and sulk in silence and not tell me why?” He saw Zach roll his eyes and clenched his jaw. He huffed out a breath and gave himself a few seconds to calm down. “Is this about your grandma?” he asked quietly.

“God, I don’t want to talk about it, Frankie. Can you just drop it?”

“Why are you mad at me? I didn’t tell your grandmother to not let us come over for dinner with the rest of your family,” he said incredulously. 

“I never said you did.”

“No, you’re just giving me the silent treatment. If you’re upset, that’s fine, but don’t take it out on me. I’m your husband, not your human punching bag.”

Zach scoffed. “Yea, and if you’d been my wife, we’d be eating at my grandparents’ right now,” he mumbled under his breath.

Frankie’s jaw dropped a little, having heard exactly what he said. His jaw clenched again and he curled his hands into balls in his lap. “Well I’m so sorry that the experts didn’t match you with some pretty little Jewish girl so your homophobic grandmother could continue to pretend you’re straight and that you don’t love getting fucked in the ass, but that is _not_ my fault. Take it out on them, not me.”

He turned away from Zach, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring out the window. He knew the camera got every last word of that, and that it would no doubt make it on the show, which only served to piss him off even more.

The car pulled up to the Grande house fifteen minutes later, and neither Zach or Frankie had spoken in that time. They didn’t move when the car stopped, sitting still for a few minutes.

Eventually Zach sighed. “Are we going in, or…?”

Frankie didn’t budge. “I am not going in there while I’m mad at you.”

Zach sighed, shaking his head and looking back out the window. He studied the outside of the house and bit his lip. It was huge and intimidating, but it also had a vague feeling of home that made Zach feel at ease. He glanced at Frankie out of the corner of his eye and frowned, fiddling with the bracelet on his wrist. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Frankie turned his head towards Zach and raised his eyebrow stubbornly. “For?”

He squeezed part of the bracelet between his fingers and kept his eyes locked on what he was doing instead of on Frankie. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. That was dumb. I just…” he paused as he felt tears prick his eyes. “I really thought once the wedding was over, y’know, she’d just...I don’t know, just get over her feelings about my sexuality and accept that I have a husband and want to get to know him. And she didn’t. She doesn’t even want anything to do with me.” He heard his voice crack and sniffed, looking back out the window. He heard Frankie turn in his seat and felt his hand rest over his own.

“Zach,” Frankie said gently. “I know this wasn’t your ideal reaction to our marriage. I know it has to be hurtful to have her not want to be a part of this. But it’s only been a little over a week since we got married. It’s still new to her. Maybe in the future…” he trailed off for a moment and then squeezed Zach’s hand in his. “You can’t blame me for how she reacted. I’m not the one who paired you with a man to be married. And I’m not the one who said we couldn’t have dinner at your grandmother’s for the last night of Hanukkah. I wish I could make it easier for you, honey, I wish I could change her mind so you didn’t have to deal with something like this, but I can’t. All I can do is hold your hand and stand by your side and bring you around my family where you will be loved unconditionally.”

Zach sniffed again and turned his hand so Frankie could lace their fingers together. “I wasn’t trying to take it out on you,” he said, turning to look at his husband. “This is just...it’s the first Hanukkah I haven’t spent at that dinner, and it...it hurts.”

Frankie scooted closer to him, resting his chin on Zach’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, love.” He kissed his cheek. “Let me take your mind off this. Let’s go celebrate Christmas with my family. We’ll have a good time and forget about the bad things. Okay?”

Zach tilted his head to lean against Frankie’s. “Okay,” he mumbled.

**

After a warm welcome that made Zach feel like he was a part of Frankie’s family, which he guessed he technically was, they were ushered into the house to have a Christmas Eve lunch. Zach ate until he felt like he could throw up. Afterwards, Frankie announced it was time to decorate the tree.

“Um, I know I’m Jewish and everything, but aren’t you supposed to decorate the tree _before_ Christmas?” Zach asked, raising his eyebrow at Frankie.

Frankie rolled his eyes playfully. “Yes, Rose, but this is our tradition. We always decorate today. Or, everyone else tries to decorate and I change everything they do,” he said cheekily. He reached a hand out to Zach to pull him out of the dining room chair. “Wanna help me, my darling?”

Zach giggled and stood up with him. “What’s the point if you’re just going to change what I do?”

Frankie tugged him closer, kissing him softly and smiling at him. “Maybe you can convince me not to move things around.”

“Convince you with sexual favors?”

He grinned brightly. “If that’s what it takes.”

Zach hummed. “I’m okay with that.” He slapped Frankie’s ass as he moved past him and winked, then followed him to the other room.

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_Frankie and I had a really fun time decorating the Christmas tree. It meant a lot to me to do that with him and take part in that tradition he has. I think it helped us get back to our happy place after that fight we had in the car. Now I just want us to enjoy the rest of the holidays with each other and with his family and just be happy._

**

Zach wrapped his arms around Frankie’s waist from behind and pulled him back against his chest, growling in his ear a little. “I will let you come on my face later if you don’t move that,” he said so only he could hear.

Frankie paused his hand from where it had been reaching for a dreidel ornament. “I was just going to put it --”

“Nope,” Zach interrupted. “Leave it right there.” 

Frankie turned in his arms, wrapping his own arms around Zach’s neck. “Mm, your face is going to look so pretty later,” he whispered against his neck.

Ariana skipped up to them and reached her hand above their heads. “Mistletoe!” she cheered.

They both giggled and brought their lips together in a kiss. Ariana smiled and took a picture of them on her phone.

“Mommy said we’ll turn on a movie right after y’all finish the tree.”

**

“It’s midnight,” Frankie said, leaning into Zach’s arms. “Merry Christmas, my love.”

“Merry Christmas,” Zach grinned, kissing Frankie slowly. Frankie slid his hand up Zach’s side and laughed into Zach’s mouth as he heard catcalls from his sister. He pinched Zach’s nipple playfully, making Zach giggle and squirm away. “Frankie!”

Frankie smiled and kissed Zach’s cheek. “Time for presents!”

Zach got sucked into a blur of wrapping paper and bows as Ariana, Joan, Nonna, and Frankie opened presents. Frankie’s best friend Jonathan stopped by and opened a few presents from the Grande’s. Zach listened as he and Frankie told stories about their time in school together and felt vaguely jealous that they had a long history together that he didn’t have with Frankie. Their week together had been amazing so far, but he couldn’t wait until he could be the one telling stories from years before of things he and Frankie had done together and know that they’d built a life together.

Frankie gave Zach a smile as Joan handed him a present along with Frankie and Jonathan. All three opened their boxes to find matching pairs of red velvet Tom Ford shoes. While Jonathan and Frankie freaked out, Zach stared at them with his jaw on the floor, tracing his fingers over the soft material. He looked up at Joan in awe and she smiled at him. He got up to hug her tightly and she laughed, patting his back.

“Thanks Mama Joan,” he said. “These are awesome.”

She smiled at him, petting his face as he pulled back. “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Merry Christmas.”

Frankie looked at him adoringly as he sat back down beside him and kissed his cheek.

“Are you ready for my present now?” he asked, lacing their hands together.

Zach nodded. “If you’re ready for mine.”

He smirked. “I’m always ready for yours, baby.”

They exchanged gifts and Zach looked down at the box in his lap and bit his lip. He looked up at Frankie. “You go first.”

Frankie laughed a little and nodded, ripping open the wrapping paper and opening the box inside. “Oh my god,” he drew out, laughing at the assortment of stuff inside. “Shit, how much glitter did you buy, baby?” he asked, pulling bottle after bottle of different colored glitter out of the box.

Zach giggled. “You said you wear glitter a lot, so…”

“I do. This is perfect.” He sifted through the rest of the box and his eyes lit up as he pulled something else out of the box. “Oooo, shirtless Justin Bieber pictures. How nice of you to give me my other husband for Christmas,” he teased. 

Zach looked jealous for a moment, making Frankie smile. “Hey now, I’m your only husband.”

He reached up to play with Zach’s ear. “Yea, you are,” he said softly, leaning in to kiss him. “Justin has nothing on you.”

Zach blushed. “Stahhhp.” He giggled and got another kiss from Frankie. “See the rest,” he said.

He smiled and turned back to the box. There were some rainbow socks, a few bracelets, and then there was another small box inside. Frankie pulled out the smaller box and opened it, gasping a little. “Zach,” he breathed. “It’s beautiful.” He lifted the watch out of the box and traced his finger along the edge.

Zach perked up proudly. “Turn it around.”

Frankie raised his eyebrow and turned the watch around. He saw an inscription on the back and read it. “Until the end of time. 12.13.14.” He looked at Zach, tears shining in his eyes. “Zach. This is so sweet.”

Zach smiled brightly. “You like it, then?”

He shook his head, leaning in to kiss Zach thoroughly. He pulled away and leaned their foreheads together. “I love it.” He kissed him again. “Thank you, my love.”

“Merry Christmas,” Zach said, happy that Frankie liked his present.

“Merry Christmas. Okay, your turn.”

Zach giggled and started opening his present. He was definitely starting to see the appeal to Christmas. He felt this sense of excitement like it was his birthday or something.

He pulled the top off the box and giggled some more at the rainbow tissue paper inside. He moved it out of the way. “Oh my god, I love you,” he exclaimed, pulling a pair of pink and blue gloves out of the box. “Now my fingers don’t have to freeze when we get back home.”

“That’s the plan,” Frankie laughed.

Zach lifted something else out of the box and raised an eyebrow at Frankie. “What’s this?” He saw the mischievous look in Frankie’s eyes and braced himself.

“It’s a cocksock. So your penis stays nice and warm too.”

Zach busted out laughing and blushed profusely. “Frankie,” he whined.

He giggled. “Keep going.”

Zach groaned playfully and returned to his gift. His eyes widened at the next item. “Shut the fuck up.” Frankie and Ariana started laughing. “Shut the fuck up! Seriously?!”

Frankie grinned. “Perks of marrying Big Sean’s girlfriend’s brother, huh?”

Zach stared at the autographed Big Sean CD in his hands and back at Frankie, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. “Dude. This is fucking awesome.” He put his arm around Frankie’s shoulder and pulled him into a kiss. “Thanks, babe. And thank you, Ari.”

She waved her hand flippantly. “It was no big deal. Sean was happy to send it over.”

Zach pulled out a shirt next and unfolded it to get a better look. He read the words typed across the front in white. “‘I’m not gay, but my husband is.’ Frankie, you’re fucking hilarious,” Zach said, giggling at the shirt. He immediately took off the shirt he was wearing and put on the new one, grinning as Frankie admired the bare skin of his chest while it was still there.

“There’s one more,” Frankie said, shaking himself out of his staring.

He grabbed the last present and flipped it over. Frankie watched as his face got all soft and a small smile grew on his face. “Frankie. This is...this is perfect.”

Zach studied the picture in its frame, committing to memory the way his arms were wrapped around Frankie’s shoulders and Frankie’s were around his waist, and the way they both were smiling brightly at the camera. There was no space between their bodies and they looked the very definition of overjoyed.

Frankie smiled. “It was one of my favorites from our wedding. Ari took it.”

Ariana looked up from a present she had just finished opening and glanced at the picture. “It’s my proudest accomplishment to date,” she said truthfully. “Y’all are the fucking cutest.”

Zach giggled and put the frame carefully back in the box. “It’s perfect. It’ll look perfect on my---not my bedside table, because I won’t be living with AJ anymore,” he corrected himself, remembering the fact that he’d be moving in with Frankie.

“Do you know where you want to live yet?” Ariana asked them, going around the room and cleaning up the wrapping paper everyone had discarded. 

Frankie shrugged. “Not exactly. Zach agreed to check out my apartment first and see if he likes it. If not, we’ll find someplace new. I’m not worried.”

“I’ll be happy as long as I’m with you,” Zach said, looking at Frankie with puppy dog eyes.

Frankie grinned. “You’re the cutest.”

**

Frankie rolled off of Zach the next morning, panting heavily as he tried to recover. 

Zach giggled and reached up to wipe Frankie’s come off his face and licked his finger clean. “I love Christmas.”

Frankie laughed and climbed back on top of him, growling into his ear. “My little tiger can be so dirty,” he purred. “You like when I come on your face, my dirty boy?”

Zach blushed and moaned a little at the dirty talk. “Frankie,” he breathed. “You’re gonna make my dick hard again.”

He hummed, kissing down Zach’s neck. “Consider it another Christmas present.”

**

“Ariana, no, this is too much,” Zach exclaimed in shock as she presented him with another gift once he and Frankie finally made it downstairs an hour later.

She laughed mockingly. “Zachary, my wonderful innocent brother-in-law, there is no such thing as too much on Christmas.”

“But--”

“Nope,” she cut him off. “You are part of my family, and I don’t hold back on giving my family presents. Especially on Christmas.”

He felt a sense of warmth at hearing her call him family and smiled at the pink BAPE hat she’d given him. “I’m literally going to be buried in this hat.”

Frankie laughed, pressing a kiss against the back of his neck. “How about we hold off on the dying and the burials for several decades, yea?”

“Aww, baby, you wanna be with me for _decades_?” Zach teased, leaning his head back to look at Frankie.

Frankie playfully slapped his cheeks and pressed a loud kiss against his forehead. “You’re okay, I guess.”

**

“So, be honest,” Frankie said, cuddled into Zach on the couch that evening. “How was your first Christmas?”

“Hmmm...It was…Grande.” Frankie giggled, kissing beneath his jaw. “It was amazing. I felt like I was home. Your family feels like my family.”

Frankie smiled up at him. “They are your family, my darling.” He brought their lips together and kissed Zach with a smile on his face. “I’m glad you had a good Christmas.”

“I had a great Christmas,” Zach said. “Perfect.”

“I want to make every day perfect for you,” Frankie whispered, holding him close.

Zach smiled and pushed down the butterflies in his stomach. He found himself trailing his fingers across Frankie’s back over and over again. “You’ve been successful so far,” he whispered back.


	9. Moving In

“Welcome home, baby,” Frankie said playfully as they got off the plane, tugging Zach into his space.

Zach giggled, wrapping his arms around Frankie’s neck. “Welcome home.”

They were closing out their second week of being married and had flown back to New York early to get settled before Frankie had to return to the theatre that night. While Florida had been fun, there was a sense of excitement at returning to New York with the knowledge that they would be moving in together.

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_Christmas is over and we are back in New York. I'm really excited for this next step with Zach. It's like every week has been a new chapter in our story, and this week our chapter is moving in together. I really hope he likes my apartment, because it's pretty much in an ideal part of the city for me to easily get to the theatre, and it's not far from where his apartment with his roommate was, so I don't think it'll be too much of a change. But, you know, if he doesn't, we'll figure it out and find some place else. I want him to like where we live, because he's my husband and it has to be our place, not just my place._

**

Zach giggled as Frankie sang along enthusiastically to the radio on their way to Zach and AJ's apartment to get Zach's things. 

"Frankie, you have the voice of an angel."

"Thank you," Frankie said, kissing Zach's cheek happily. 

Frankie continued to sing along to the radio, occasionally getting Zach to join him until they pulled up in front of Zach’s place.

“Come on!” Zach urged. Frankie laughed as Zach quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and hopped out of the car. He followed suit and just barely managed to grab Zach’s hand and still him as he walked past.

“Honey, take a second. The camera still has to come with us.”

Zach bounced restlessly on the balls of his feet. “But Tiger,” he whined.

Frankie tugged him closer, pressing a soft kiss against Zach’s lips. “He’ll still be up there in another minute.” 

Zach pouted and waited impatiently for the camera to be taken out of the car and their crew members to be situated and ready to go up to the apartment. Frankie laughed at the look on his face and nuzzled into Zach’s neck.

When they got the okay to head into the building, Zach practically bolted towards the door, only slightly slowed down my Frankie’s grip on his hand. The elevator ride up to the apartment felt longer than Zach could ever remember, and Frankie couldn’t help but to find it endearing how excited Zach was to see his dog. Zach hadn’t even been this excited on Christmas.

They finally made it to Zach’s floor and he unlocked the door as fast as possible, rushing into the apartment to let Tiger out of his crate.

Frankie stood by the couch and let Zach have his moment, smiling as Tiger jumped all over Zach as soon as his crate was opened. Zach knelt down on the ground, happily accepting Tiger’s kisses all over his face.

After a few moments, Tiger realized there were other people in the apartment and trotted over to Frankie, sniffing him all over. Frankie grinned and pet Tiger’s head, cooing as Tiger tilted his head to lick Frankie’s hand.

Zach smiled brightly. “He likes you.”

“He’s a cutie,” Frankie said, kneeling down to pet Tiger better. Zach stood and walked over to them, putting a hand on Tiger’s back and scratching him a little.

“You like your new daddy, Tiger?” Tiger ignored him, kissing Frankie’s chin and making Frankie pet him some more. Zach chuckled. “I guess that’s a yes. He always loves everyone more than he loves me.”

“Aww, I’m sure that’s not true, is it, Tiger?” Tiger rested his head on Frankie’s leg and Zach rolled his eyes.

“Well at least he pretended he missed me for two seconds.”

Frankie gave Tiger one last pat and then stood up, kissing Zach’s cheek sweetly. “He missed you, honey. Now, why don’t we grab some of your stuff and take him over to my apartment and see if you like it.” Tiger nudged Frankie’s leg with his nose, making him laugh. “Yes, we’ll see if you like it too, Tiger.”

**

“So this is it,” Frankie said, letting them all into his apartment. “This is the kitchen, and the living room. Through here is where Ari stays when she’s in town. There’s an extra bathroom there, and this is my bedroom.”

Zach followed him all around the apartment, taking it all in. He was already trying to imagine where he’d be putting his things, how he’d fit into Frankie’s life.

Frankie took his hand and led him back through the apartment over to the balcony. “This is my favorite part of this place. It looks gorgeous at night when all the buildings are lit up. There’s, uh, we have those grass pads over in the corner for when Ari brings the dogs so they can go potty. Tiger can go out here if we don’t have time to walk him. The bars of the balcony are too close together for him to fit through, so you don’t have to worry about him sneaking through and falling or anything like that.”

They watched Tiger walk along the length of the balcony, sniffing everything he could find. He jumped up onto one of the big chairs and curled up in a ball, closing his eyes.

Zach snorted. “Well, I guess that’s that, then.”

Frankie looked at him nervously. “What’s what?”

Zach made eye contact with him. “Tiger likes it here. I like it here. It looks nice. Comfortable. It’s not too far from work or AJ’s. I’m okay with living here.”

He looked hopeful. “Really?”

Zach nodded. “And, y’know, if we make it past the six week mark and I decide I don’t like it…”

“Then we’ll move,” Frankie said. He looped his arms around Zach’s waist, smiling at him happily. “In a heartbeat.”

Zach accepted the kiss Frankie gave him and smiled. “I do have one request, though.”

“Anything.”

“I want to get a new bed.”

Frankie raised his eyebrow, not having expected that. “A new bed?”

Zach blushed. “I just...y’know, I think…”

“Fresh start,” Frankie guessed. Zach nodded. “That’s fair.”

“Yea?”

“Yea. I wouldn’t want to sleep on a mattress you’ve had sex with other people on either. That’s not a great way to start a marriage,” Frankie laughed. Zach laughed with him and nodded, relieved that Frankie agreed with him. 

Zach wrapped his arms around Frankie’s neck, smiling. “Okay, then. I’m glad we agree.”

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_I really like Frankie’s apartment. It’s very him, with the pink tinted lamps and the view of the city and his sister’s albums on the wall. I feel comfortable here, and Tiger feels comfortable here. The one thing I was worried about the entire time was whether or not Tiger would like Frankie and like his apartment, but Tiger took to Frankie as quickly as I did, and now I feel like I’m 1000% in this relationship. I can’t wait to move my stuff in here and make it my home too. But, yea, that mattress has to go._

**

“This one’s nice,” Zach said as he lay down on another mattress in the store. “C’mere.” He reached an arm out to Frankie, who smiled and climbed onto the bed beside him.

He cuddled into Zach’s arms, resting his head on Zach’s chest and relaxing easily. “Mmm. Very nice. Though that could just be the company.”

Zach smiled down at him, kissing his forehead. “Company’s pretty good from where I’m sitting, too.”

Frankie smiled and turned into Zach, tangling their legs together and propping himself up a little. “So what do you think? Is this our new bed?”

“I like it. But you have to like it too.”

“I do. It’s comfy. It’s got you in it. I think this is ours.”

**

Zach bit his lip as he looked in the mirror, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to wear. What do people wear to Broadway shows?”

Frankie came up behind him, tugging him closer by the belt loops of his pants. “You’ll look amazing in anything.” He nipped Zach’s neck playfully. “I’m so glad you’re coming to see me tonight.”

He hummed, leaning back into Frankie’s embrace. “Me too. I can’t wait to see you on that stage.”

Frankie turned him around, smiling and brushing Zach’s cheek with his thumb. “You’re the sweetest.” He studied Zach for a moment. “I’ve got something for you to wear. Hang on.”

Zach giggled as Frankie walked over to his closet. “What am I, your Barbie doll?”

Frankie rolled his eyes with a smile. “Hush, you. Take off your shirt.” He returned as Zach dropped his shirt onto the floor and eyed him appreciatively. He took the shirt he’d grabbed off the hanger and unbuttoned it, then held it out for Zach to put his arms through.

Zach slid his arms through the sleeves and pulled it on, letting Frankie fix the collar. “Plaid? Is that usually what people wear to these things? I figured it was more fancy than that.”

Frankie pursed his lips. “Not really. Opening and closing nights are usually a little more dress up than the other nights.” He paused, moving around Zach to button the shirt up. “It was my grandfather’s,” he said after a moment.

He froze as Frankie did up the last couple buttons. “Fuck, Frankie, I can’t wear this. What if I spill something on it? Or rip it? Oh my god, I’m going to ruin your grandfather’s clothes and you’re not even going to wait the six weeks before divorcing me.”

Frankie laughed a little, smoothing out a wrinkle in the shirt. “You’re not going to ruin it. I trust you.”

He let out a heavy breath. “Are you sure? It’s...I don’t know how much of his stuff you have, and I don’t want to ruin it because I would honestly feel like shit. I know how much he means to you.”

“Zach,” Frankie said, giving him a reassuring smile. “It’s a shirt. It’s one of my favorites of his. And it would mean a lot to me if you wore it tonight. It would be like having part of him there too. He means a lot to me, and so do you. You’re my husband. I trust you with his things.”

Zach melted as Frankie leaned in to press their lips together. He felt himself relaxing the longer the kiss went on and held onto Frankie gently.

When Frankie pulled back, he smiled at Zach and leaned their foreheads together, looking him in the eye. “You look amazing,” he whispered. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

**

“Me and Zach just finished Rock of Ages,” Frankie said to his camera in his Rhinestone Silversmith voice.

“He killed it,” Zach said. He smiled as Frankie ran a hand along the arm he’d draped across Frankie’s chest.

“I’m so happy!” He tilted his head back, pressing a kiss against Zach’s cheek before they said to come see the show. Frankie uploaded the video to his instagram, typing in a quick caption.

**frankiejgrande**

_Soooo happy to be back after a little vacation. ;) Even happier my man @ranceypants could come see what I do <3 Come see Rock of Ages on Broadway! #TheHappiestEver #MostWonderfulTimeOfTheYear _

Zach cupped Frankie’s face in his hands, bringing him closer for a kiss. They leaned against a wall in Frankie’s dressing room, taking their time.

“You were incredible,” Zach praised. “I know I tell you this all the time, but you are by far the funniest person I have ever met in my entire life. I could just watch you forever.”

Frankie felt like his heart was about to burst with how happy he was. He’d admittedly been a little nervous that Zach wouldn’t be into this part of Frankie’s world. But every time he’d looked over at Zach during his performance, there had been a smile on his face, he’d cheered for him, and he’d kept his eyes on Frankie the entire time. 

He whined a little, burying himself in Zach’s arms and nuzzling his neck. “If I didn’t have to go out and sign things for my fans, I’d be on my knees right now.” He tugged on Zach’s ear with his teeth, drawing a soft moan out of him.

“Frankie,” Zach giggled. “Why do we make everything sexual?”

He pulled back a little, looking at Zach’s face. “Because we’re in our honeymoon phase. Why, does it make you uncomfortable?”

Zach blushed and shrugged. “Not uncomfortable, just...I don’t want us to just make everything about sex instead of just being all romantic for the hell of it sometimes, y’know?”

“You’re the cutest person I’ve ever met,” Frankie cooed, kissing his cheek. “I love you.”

Zach smiled brightly. “I love you too.”

He played with the collar of Zach’s shirt. “You really liked the show?”

“I loved the show. I want to come see it again.”

Frankie smiled. “You can see it whenever you want.”

**

Zach stood to the side as Frankie took pictures with his fans and signed things for them. He was acutely aware of the fans noticing him and giving him strange looks, which made him nervous. He tried ignoring them by listening to Frankie’s friend Doug speak, but little bits were reaching his ears every now and then.

“Who is that?”

“Is that the guy in the video Frankie just posted?”

“Do you think they’re dating?”

“They looked really close.”

“I wonder how long they’ve been together.”

One fan had been standing by Frankie and decided to ask him herself. “Frankie, who’s that guy in your instagram video? The one over there with Doug?”

He saw Frankie look over at him and smile, then look back at the fan. “That’s Zach.”

She gave him a look. “And?”

Frankie laughed. “And, he’s Zach.”

Another fan groaned. “You’re not going to tell us if you’re dating or not?”

Frankie winked at them. “Sorry, loves. I’ve gotta keep some stuff to myself.”

“But you’re happy?”

Frankie glanced at Zach again and turned to another fan to sign something. “I’m very happy.”

**

Zach moaned loudly as Frankie continued pushing into him, his eyes rolling back a little at the feel of Frankie’s body hovering over him and pressing against him. 

They’d returned home from the theatre to their new mattress all set up, thanks to Lauren, who had come to the apartment to let the delivery guy in. Zach had been tired after a long day of reuniting with Tiger and mattress shopping and then seeing Frankie at the theatre, but when he’d seen their new mattress, the only thing he wanted to do was break it in with Frankie.

He was glad Frankie hadn’t been too worn out after the show and had been on board with that plan. Zach could almost still feel the way Frankie had unbuttoned the shirt he’d given Zach and slowly pushed it off his shoulders. 

He felt like he was going to explode with how slow Frankie was going, insistent on taking his time despite the late hour. His fingers dug into Frankie’s sides, whining as Frankie hit his prostate over and over again.

“Frankie, _fuck_ ,” he breathed. “So close.”

Frankie moaned, peppering kisses along Zach’s skin. “C’mon, Zach,” he purred into his ear. “You’ve been so good all day. Come for me. You’re so good.”

Zach swore at the praise, feeling himself falling over the edge as he clung to Frankie. Frankie rubbed his hands along Zach’s body, dragging out the blissed out feeling he had. He tried to replicate the feeling for Frankie when he came a minute or so later, touching any skin he could get to, brushing his lips against Frankie’s neck, holding him as close as possible. He revelled in Frankie’s moans, wanting nothing more than to keep Frankie feeling like this forever.

Frankie nuzzled into Zach, feeling warm and sated and happy. Zach’s fingers were tickling along his back in a soothing manner that made his eyes heavy. Everything felt perfect.

Zach buried his nose in Frankie’s hair, breathing him in and sighing to himself.

“I know I’ve said this pretty much every time, but I’m serious when I say that sex in our own bed is the best sex ever.”

Frankie giggled, kissing Zach’s chest. “Well I have to agree with you on that one. That was amazing. If I didn’t have a double tomorrow…” Zach groaned, making Frankie laugh. “Sorry, honey. I’d love nothing more than to have sex with you all night, but if I’m going to be singing all day, I can’t be moaning all night.”

Zach pouted playfully. “So selfish,” he teased.

Frankie hummed, trailing his fingers down Zach’s stomach. “I’ll make it up to you another time. Many times.”

**

Zach welcomed Frankie’s feet in his lap as they settled onto the couch with take out containers. Frankie was on a break in between shows and came home to have dinner with Zach. They talked about Frankie’s performance for a few minutes until Zach changed the subject.

“So, uh, how are we gonna do this? Money, I mean,” he clarified at the look on Frankie’s face. “Rent and groceries and all that. Obviously you make more than I do, but I’m good at saving money and budgeting since I’ve been living on my own since college.”

Frankie pushed his eyebrows together and swallowed the bite of food in his mouth. “Don’t worry about that. I’ve got it under control.”

Zach frowned, putting his fork down. “I want to contribute. I don’t want to just mooch off you, I want to help pay for things. We’re supposed to be a team.”

“And we are. I just don’t want you to have to worry about that stuff. I like taking care of you.”

“I like it too, but I’d feel like shit if you were the one paying for everything and I just sat here and did nothing. I’m not useless.”

Frankie sat up a little bit. “I know that. I wasn’t trying to say you were.”

Zach dragged his fork through the container in his hand. “Yesterday, with the mattress, I didn’t say anything when you paid for it because I didn’t think much of it. But I don’t want that to be how our entire relationship is. I’m your husband. I want to help buy our food and pay for our apartment. I want us to be partners.”

Frankie scooted closer to Zach and grabbed his hand in his. “Okay. We are partners, and I want you to be happy. I don’t want you to feel useless. Whatever you want to contribute is fine. If there’s a time where you can’t, or can’t as much as usual, I don’t want you to feel bad about that. Money isn’t a big thing for me.”

“It is for me. I try to be as independent as I can. And especially considering, y’know, you and your sister and your family, I don’t want to come off like I’m just letting you pay for everything and taking advantage of the fact that you have money.”

Frankie gave him a smile and squeezed his hand. “Honey, I think I’ve learned enough about you in the last couple weeks to know you’re not after me and my family’s money.” He dropped a kiss onto the back of Zach’s hand. “But I am going to want to spoil you, you know. And you’re gonna have to get used to that,” he teased.

Zach blushed and giggled. “I can live with some spoiling.”

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_I think it’s good that we talked about money, because it allowed me to see things from Zach’s perspective. He’s used to, you know, paying his bills and buying his food and budgeting, whereas I tend to just not think about how much things cost and spend my money. I wouldn’t say I’m irresponsible with it, just that I like treating myself and I like treating the people that I love. This is just a way that Zach and I will have to compromise, but I like that. I like that I have someone to compromise with._

**

Frankie cuddled into Zach from behind, kissing his neck softly. “Good morning.”

Zach groaned. “Early.”

He giggled. “Yes it’s early. It’s move in day. We have to go get more of your stuff.”

Zach pouted and rolled over to face Frankie, burying his face in Frankie’s neck. “It had to be at the asscrack of dawn?”

“It’s 9:30 in the morning,” Frankie laughed, playing with Zach’s hair. “Dawn is past.”

“You’re not human. There’s no way a normal person can do two shows in one day and come home to fuck their husband for several hours and then be awake this early.”

Frankie smiled. “You caught me. I’m a robot. Now get your cute butt up and ready so we can go get your things.”

**

“I didn’t realize I had so many clothes,” Zach complained, hanging more shirts in the area of the closet Frankie cleared out for him.

Frankie leaned against the doorway, smiling at him. “You could always burn all your clothes and walk around naked. I won’t complain.”

Zach giggled. “I will if you will.”

“How about we wait until it’s not below zero in New York?” Frankie suggested.

“Party pooper,” Zach retorted. Frankie laughed, putting his arms around Zach.

“I’ll let you see me naked later. After you unpack the last of your stuff.”

“But I hate unpacking,” Zach whined. 

Frankie opened his mouth to retort when Tiger came up beside him and nudged his leg, whining loudly. “Oh great, now both of you are whining.”

Zach laughed. “He’s probably got to go out. I’ll--”

“Don’t even think about it. You finish unpacking, I’ll take care of him.”

He pouted. “But babe, unpacking is so boring.”

“You’ll survive,” he teased. “C’mon, Tiger, lets go on a walk while your daddy puts all his stuff away.”

Tiger perked up and ran out of the room towards the front door. Frankie kissed Zach’s cheek and grabbed his coat and gloves.

“Hurry up so we can celebrate before I have to go to the theatre,” Frankie said, winking at Zach as he left. Zach groaned, banging his head against the closet door.

**

Frankie removed Tiger’s leash as they got back into the apartment and hung it in its new spot beside the door. Tiger trotted over to the kitchen to drink some water and Frankie headed back to the bedroom to look for Zach.

“Honey, we’re home,” Frankie sung. He saw Zach over by the dresser and skipped over to wrap his arms around him. “Miss me?”

Zach giggled. “Always.”

Frankie’s eyes landed on the new addition to the dresser - the picture frame Frankie had given Zach for Christmas with their photo inside. Zach followed his gaze and gave him a nervous look. 

“Is that okay? I thought it would look good in here. But if you want it somewhere else--”

Frankie shook his head, leaning in to kiss Zach eagerly. He sighed into his mouth, not breaking the kiss until he absolutely had to. 

“I love you.” He kissed Zach again. “I love it there. It makes it feel more like our room.”

Zach smiled proudly and blushed a little. “I wanted it to be the last thing I unpacked and set up.”

Frankie felt like his face was going to crack from smiling so hard. “Why are you actually the cutest person I’ve ever met in my life?”


	10. Happy New Year

“Hey, baby. How was work?”

Zach groaned, dropping his bag by the door. “Long.” He leaned over the kitchen island to give Frankie a peck on the lips. “But, I am off for the next few days, so I guess that’s one good thing about today.”

Frankie smiled. “Well I’m glad to hear that. Now we can celebrate the New Year in peace.”

“And by in peace, you mean in the center of Times Square with a billion people.”

He laughed. “You’ve never spent New Years in New York! And I want to start our year out right. It’ll be great. There’s something about that environment that just feels magical.”

Zach rested his elbow on the island and put his chin in his hand, smiling at Frankie cheesily. “So just like every day with you, then?”

Frankie felt his heart skip a beat. “God, I would marry you so hard if we weren’t already married,” he breathed.

**

**@FrankieJGrande**  
_HAPPY #TOPLESSTUESDAY!!! [praise emojis] [lips emojis] [heart emojis] instagram.com/p/xPnw0osin/ @ranceypants_

“You look so sexy,” Frankie purred, leaning in to kiss Zach’s neck and drag his hand down Zach’s stomach. Zach giggled, wrapping his arm around Frankie’s waist and holding him close.

“You look way sexier.” He felt a shiver run through him as Frankie’s teeth dragged against his earlobe. “Let me see the picture again.”

Frankie pulled back and handed Zach his phone, the picture they’d just taken still lit up on the screen. Zach’s eyes were immediately drawn to Frankie’s abs on display, leading down to the V of his hips to the tight pants he was wearing. Zach was pressed right up against him, his chin on Frankie’s shoulder and his hand on one of Frankie’s hips. Zach knew he looked good, but he also knew his husband was a complete smokebomb. 

Zach hummed. “You can see both our rings,” he pointed out, handing Frankie back his phone. “I’m surprised none of your fans have put two and two together yet.”

He chuckled. “Oh I’m sure some have figured it out. But it’s probably hard for anyone to believe that you suddenly started showing up in pictures with me a couple weeks ago and somehow we’re married.”

“Point.” He kissed Frankie’s cheek and headed out of the bathroom where they’d taken the picture. “I’m starving. Lets make some food and watch a movie before you have to go to the theatre.”

Frankie smiled as he followed him. “Oh, yay, does that mean we get to cuddle and make out like teenagers?”

Zach laughed. “Frankie, you’re fucking hilarious.” He pulled Frankie closer, giving him a long, slow kiss. “We can make out all you want.”

**

Zach’s eyes had been drifting closed for the last twenty minutes at least. He had a full stomach, Frankie was spooning him on the couch with his nose buried in Zach’s neck, and their hands were locked together over Zach’s stomach, Frankie’s thumb rubbing soothing circles into Zach’s skin.

Frankie had to fight to stay awake, wanting nothing more than to just close his eyes and take a nap with his husband. Unfortunately, he had to keep reminding himself that he had to get up and go to the theatre. He found himself waiting until the very last possible minute before pressing a kiss against Zach’s neck softly.

“Zach,” he whispered. “I have to go now, love.”

Zach forced himself to consciousness enough to whine and cuddle back into Frankie’s arms in protest. “Already?”

Frankie squeezed him tighter and pouted even though Zach couldn’t see him. “I’m sorry. I wish I could stay.” He kissed Zach’s neck a few more times. “Go back to sleep. I’ll text you during intermission.”

“Text me when you get there,” Zach said sleepily. “So I know you’re safe. Then during intermission.”

Frankie felt his chest fill with a warm, happy feeling at Zach’s words and tilted Zach’s head towards him, kissing him for a moment. “I love you,” Frankie whispered.

Zach gave him a tired smile. “Love you too. Now go before I force you to stay and cuddle with me. And bundle up. It’s cold as fuck outside.”

Frankie groaned softly, loving how Zach made him feel inside. “Marry me.” He kissed Zach again, smiling at the giggles that spilled out of Zach’s mouth.

**

**Frankie**  
_Bringing home a friend for a visit. She wants to meet you. See you soon <3 _

Zach pouted a little as he looked at his phone, having hoped that Frankie would just come home and crawl into bed with him. He didn’t want to have to get up and put actual clothes on for one of Frankie’s friends, but he also didn’t want to tell Frankie he couldn’t bring friends home after work.

**Zach**  
_Okay :)_

He forced himself out of the bed and pulled some pants on, then made his way out to the living room and plopped down on the couch. He turned the TV on and curled himself into a ball on the cushion, resting his head down sleepily.

Zach closed his eyes and listened to whatever was on the TV. He wasn't really paying attention to what it was, just letting it fill the silence. He didn't know how much time past before he heard Frankie's keys in the door, but he mustered up as much energy as he could to sit up as the door opened and stretch his muscles.

"Hey," Frankie said, watching Zach rub his eyes. "Aw, Zach, if you were sleeping you should've said so."

Zach shook his head, forcing a smile onto his face. "S'alright. I'm awake," he said, standing up. "Where's your--holy shit!"

Zach's eyes grew wide as he caught sight of who he assumed was Frankie's friend. Frankie closed the door behind them and laughed a little at Zach’s face.

“Zach, this is my friend Elissa. Elissa, this is my husband Zach.”

“I know who she is,” Zach said, still staring at her. “Hi.”

Elissa smiled at him. “Hi. Wow, Frankie, I can’t believe you really got married. He’s cute.”

He laughed, putting his arm around her. “Isn’t he, though?”

Zach broke his gaze from Elissa and grinned at Frankie. “Hi, I missed you.”

Frankie smiled brightly. “Oh yea? I was pretty sure you forgot I was here when you saw Elissa, the way you were staring,” he teased.

Zach blushed. “I wasn’t staring,” he said defensively. “But you didn’t tell me you were bringing back someone from Big Brother!”

Elissa laughed. “Aww, I love you. If I weren’t happily married, I might try to steal you away from Frankie,” she joked.

“Well if _I_ weren’t happily married, I’d _definitely_ go with you.”

Frankie playfully skipped over to Zach’s side and tackled him into a hug. “Good thing you’re happily married then, huh?”

Zach giggled, holding onto him. He groaned as Tiger woke up in his cage and started whining. “Let go, I have to take Tiger out.”

Frankie smiled, keeping his grasp on Zach. “Kiss first.” Zach giggled again and kissed him briefly. “Mmm. I missed you too, by the way,” he mumbled.

“Good.”

**

"Zach, come here," Frankie called from the bathroom. He closed the fridge and crossed the apartment, following Frankie's voice.

He paused when he got to the doorway of the bathroom, seeing Frankie and Elissa standing in front of the mirror with no shirts on. "Uh..."

"Come take a Topless Tuesday picture with us."

Zach tried not to stare at Elissa but found himself failing. "Um...we already took one, though."

Frankie laughed. "Well now come take one with both of us. We won't bite."

"Speak for yourself," Elissa said. "I bite." She winked at Zach, and he blushed, looking down at his feet.

Frankie hummed. "So I guess I lied then, because he already knows I bite."

"Frankie," Zach whined. 

"Come here," Frankie prompted, reaching a hand out at him.

Zach groaned and entered the bathroom. Frankie had Elissa sandwiched between the two of them and Zach could feel Elissa's skin against his and Frankie's hand low on his back. They all made seductive faces in the mirror until Frankie snapped a picture of them. Elissa giggled and kissed Frankie's cheek, then Zach's, before pulling the chest portion of her dress back up her body. Zach let Frankie hug him and avoided his gaze when Frankie felt how Zach had gotten a little hard.

After Elissa left a little while later and Frankie and Zach were cuddled in their bed, Frankie propped himself up on his elbow, looking down at Zach.

"So Elissa's hot, huh?"

Zach groaned, throwing his arm over his face. "C'mon, Frankie."

"What? I'm just saying, you obviously thought so. You could barely take your eyes off her. And then you got hard when we took that picture. It's fine. I may be gay, but I'm not blind. I know she's hot."

Zach sighed, moving his arm so he could see Frankie. "I was thrown off, okay? First I wasn't expecting her to be the friend you were bringing home, and then I wasn't expecting to walk into the bathroom to see you both were barely wearing any clothes."

"Zach, it's fine. It's not a big deal. I was just teasing you."

"I just don't want you to think I'm, like, purposely looking at other people or that I'd try anything with someone else."

Frankie scooted closer to him. "I don't think that at all. I trust you. If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked you into the bathroom with us. You're allowed to find other people attractive, Zach. I find other people attractive too. We're married. But that just means we're not fucking anyone else."

Zach pouted at him. "I don't want you to find anyone else attractive."

He giggled and threw his leg across Zach's lap. He nuzzled his face into Zach's neck, pressing a kiss beneath his ear. "Sorry, honey. But it's going to happen. Just like you're going to find other guys and girls attractive too." He moved so he was fully seated in Zach's lap, pressing himself against him with a smirk. "But you're the only one I want to have sex with."

Zach's hands found Frankie's thighs, smiling up at him. "Yea? Like, right now, or...?"

Frankie grinned and ran his hands up Zach's chest. "I thought you were tired."

"That was until you started parading around in front of me with no shirt with your friend. Now I just want you."

**

Frankie woke up on New Year's Eve morning cuddled into Zach's body. He had his arms wrapped around Zach's waist and his face in the back of Zach's neck and everything felt perfect. 

He pressed them as close together as he could, inhaling the smell of Zach's skin.

"Good morning," he sang. "Happy New Year's Eve."

"Morning," Zach croaked. He sighed contentedly as Frankie kissed his neck. "How'd you sleep?"

Frankie hummed, pressing another kiss against Zach's ear. "I slept great. You?"

"Great," he agreed. "What time's the camera supposed to be here?"

"Not till later. We've got most of the afternoon to ourselves."

"Perfect," he mumbled, turning around to kiss Frankie on the lips. "Happy New Year's Eve."

**

"Fuck," Zach moaned, shoving his face deeper into the pillow below him. "Can we ring in the New Year like this instead?"

Frankie giggled, pulling back from where he'd had his face buried in Zach's ass. "I'd rather be fucking you into the New Year, but I'm open to the idea." He slapped Zach's ass playfully, and Zach moaned again. 

"I'd rather be in bed with you than freezing my dick off in Times Square."

Frankie leaned back in to lick at Zach's hole. "We already told the cameras we'd be in Times Square, though. And we're the only couple on the show doing it, as far as I'm aware. They'd probably shit bricks if we changed the plan on them." He slid a finger inside Zach slowly, enjoying the way Zach arched his back. "But next year..."

Zach whined, pushing back into Frankie's touch. "Fuck, I love when you talk about us a year from now."

Frankie smiled happily, pushing a second finger inside him. "I know, baby."

**

Frankie pushed a hat onto Zach's head, smiling at him.

"Don't want your ears to freeze off."

Zach smiled at him, adjusting the hat so it wasn't so close to his eyes. 

"Thank you."

He watched Frankie's pleased smile as he pulled on the gloves he'd given Zach for Christmas. Frankie leaned against the wall, smirking at him. 

"Any chance you're wearing a certain other gift I gave you for Christmas?" Frankie asked.

Zach giggled. "Guess you'll have to find out when we get back home," he teased.

"Mm...I like when you flirt with me, Zachary."

Zach grinned, liking the way Frankie was looking at him. Frankie wrapped his arms around him and kissed him slowly. They didn't pull away when the apartment door opened, continuing to hold each other close and kiss.

"Happy New Year, Zankie!" Lauren cheered. "Stop kissing and hug us."

Frankie laughed, kissing Zach one more time before breaking away from him and greeting his friends. Zach grabbed his coat and shrugged it on, zipping and buttoning it as much as he could.

Jon-Erik laughed at him. “Did they turn you into an eskimo when you left Puerto Rico?” he teased before giving Zach a hug.

Zach hugged him back and pouted. “Hey, Frankie’s more bundled up than I am!”

Frankie stuck his tongue out at them, zipping his jacket up to his scarf. “But I need to make sure I don’t get sick before I’m done at the theatre.” He skipped back over to Zach, wrapping his arms around his waist and cuddling into him. “So be a good husband and cuddle me all night to keep me warm.”

Zach smiled and kissed his cheek. “Gladly.”

Frankie’s friend Allie shook her head as she watched them. “It’s still so weird hearing you call someone your husband.”

“A good weird,” Frankie corrected, smiling at Zach and giving him a peck on the lips. “I like it.”

“I like _you_ ,” Zach said.

“I like keeping down my dinner,” Lauren joked. “So stop making me nauseous with your lovey dovey stuff.”

Frankie giggled, kissing Zach once more. “Okay, okay. Let’s go.”

**

Zach buried his nose in Frankie’s neck, trying to warm it up a little. Frankie only complained for a couple seconds before he let Zach keep his face there. They swayed to the music playing in the background, holding each other close for warmth.

“Y’know a year ago, the last thing I anticipated was spending the next New Year’s Eve with my husband,” Zach said quietly. “Hell, the last thing I anticipated _a month ago_ was spending New Year’s Eve with my husband. It’s so crazy.”

Frankie wrapped his arm tightly around Zach’s waist. “I know. But I just keep thinking about where we’ll be next year. Like what’s going to happen between us in the next year?”

Zach nuzzled into him some more, closing his eyes and breathing in the moment. “Hopefully we just keep growing like we have been. But there’s no doubt in my mind that no matter what happens, whether we stay together or not, that my life has changed because of you.”

Frankie felt like his heart was going to explode. Zach always had a way of saying things that hit him right in the heart. “Damn it, Zach,” he breathed. “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”

He reached his hand up to tilt Zach’s face towards his, kissing him happily. He wrapped his arms around Zach’s waist and felt Zach’s wrap around his neck, and everything had this surreal magical feeling around it. They pulled away and leaned their foreheads together, smiling at each other.

“My New Year’s resolution, as your husband,” Frankie said. “Is to make sure you’re as happy as you possibly can be, and that if you’re not, to do whatever it takes to fix it. And that we’re a team, and I’ll try as hard as I can to act like it at all times.”

Zach hummed. “Team Zankie for life, baby.” He kissed Frankie once more. “My New Year’s resolution is to make you laugh and smile more than you’ve ever laughed and smiled in your life, and to hold you when you’re sad, and to never take you or this experience for granted.”

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_My hope for 2015 is that we really just fall in love with each other, and that we can make our marriage work and can stay together and really have something that can last. I feel like we can. I know I can love Zach for the rest of my life. He makes me feel happy and special and cared for. He could be the one. I know it’s going to take a lot of work, and not everything will be perfect, but I’m willing to do all that because I care about him. I have a good feeling about this year. I really do._

**

Frankie cupped Zach’s face in his hands, stroking his cheekbones with his thumbs lightly. “You bring sunshine to my life.”

Zach couldn’t help but to smile in response, holding Frankie close to him. “You do the same for me, you know? I’ve never felt this way about anyone in my life. No one can make me laugh like you do. No one can make me smile and feel as good about myself as you do. I’m always smiling when I’m around you.”

Frankie sighed happily, leaning forward to kiss him sweetly. “We’re the cutest.”

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_It’s only been a few weeks, but, the bond that Frankie and I have is so genuine and sincere, that I truly feel like he is my husband. I feel like I’ve known him for years and we became best friends and fell in love and got engaged and moved in together and got married. And I honestly wasn’t expecting that at this point in the experiment, because we didn’t have all that. We got married the moment we met. But that hasn’t stopped us from learning about each other and bonding and falling for each other. Am I in love with him right now? ...I don’t know. I know I care about him and I love being around him and I feel closer to him than to anyone I’ve been in a relationship with in the past. I think it’s just a matter of time before I am in love with him. It’s not a matter of if it’s going to happen, just when it’s going to happen._

_We’re almost half way through this experiment. What I’m looking forward to in the New Year is continuing to grow with Frankie as a couple and just enjoy every day that we have together._

**

“Shit, shit, shit. I dropped my wedding ring,” Frankie panicked, searching the ground around them for his ring.

Zach cursed, helping him look. “How the fuck did you do that?”

“I’m not used to having a ring on my finger yet. I keep playing with it. It slipped right out of my hands. Fuck.”

Frankie and Zach both looked along the ground, hoping no one in the crowd of people surrounding them kicked it away. Frankie’s eyes finally caught sight of it and he pointed urgently.

“There! It rolled by that glow stick cart!”

Zach rushed over, pushing past a couple people in his way and reached down, scooping up the ring off the ground. He brushed it off with his gloves as he made his way back to Frankie and grinned at him, dropping down to one knee in front of him.

Frankie’s jaw dropped momentarily. “Aww, you never asked me to marry you,” he cooed.

Zach giggled, taking his hand. “Well now I am.” He smiled up at him, squeezing his hand. “Will you marry me?”

Frankie felt like his face was going to split in two with how hard he was smiling. “Yes, Zachary Colin Rance, I will marry you.” Zach slid the ring back on Frankie’s finger and stood up, kissing him happily.

“Now put your gloves on,” Zach instructed, kissing him once more. Frankie laughed, pulling his gloves out of his coat pocket and tugging them on.

**

“You ready?” Frankie asked as the clock started counting down from 60 seconds.

Zach grinned, putting his arm around Frankie’s shoulders. “Ready.”

Frankie got his phone ready to take a video, aiming it at the New Year’s ball as it started to come down.

The crowd around them was chanting and cheering. Frankie’s friends and AJ, who had joined them an hour ago, stood beside them eagerly awaiting the turn of the New Year. Zach had never been in New York for New Year’s, but he had to admit that Frankie was right when he told him how much of a different energy it was.

“10...9...8...7...6…5...4...3...2...1...Happy New Year!”

Everyone cheered loudly. Frankie turned his phone towards himself as Zach leaned in to kiss him. He met every brush of Zach’s lips, letting himself get absorbed into the moment. Eventually he blindly pressed the lock button on his phone so the video would stop and wrapped both arms around Zach. 

Zach giggled as they pulled away, smiling at Frankie. “Happy New Year.”

Frankie rubbed Zach’s earlobe between his fingers, smiling back at him. “Happy New Year, love.”

**

**frankiejgrande**

_NOTHING LIKE NEW YEARS IN TIMES SQUARE!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR LOVES!!! 2015 is going to be GRANDE!!! We wish you a very #zankie New Year [kiss emoji] [[video]]_

**

New Year’s Day began with cuddling and was blissfully camera free until the late afternoon. By that time, several of Frankie’s friends as well as AJ came over to their apartment to hang out so they could all get to know each other better.

“I think the one thing I was worried about,” Lauren started a while later as they sat around the living room. “Was that whoever they paired Frankie with...not necessarily wouldn’t be into being married, but wouldn’t be as into being married as Frankie was. I know Frankie never really worried about that, but, y’know, I was nervous for him that whatever guy they set him up with just wouldn’t be that serious about it. But I’m glad to see that I was wrong, because I can tell that this isn’t just something you’re flippant about. It’s not something where you’re like ‘well if it works, it works, if it doesn’t, it’s whatever.’ I saw it last night and I see it today that you are invested in this relationship with him and are taking it seriously. And honestly, if nothing else, that gives me a lot of respect for you.”

Frankie smiled proudly, pressing a kiss against Zach’s cheek. Zach giggled shyly.

“Thanks.” He took a sip of his beer and then cleared his throat. “The positives for me have always outweighed the negatives. Obviously we both were apprehensive about if this would work or not, but it actually does work. Like, it’s going to be such an amazing story to tell our children, you know?”

Frankie looked at Zach in awe and felt a rush of happiness go through him as he stroked Zach’s cheek with his thumb.

“Speaking of children,” Paul said. “Obviously you wanted to get married. So then, what did you see your life as, after that?”

Zach sighed. “I don’t know. It’s hard to say, because any thoughts I had about kids, I had to consider kids with a wife or kids with a husband. And even then, it all depended on, you know, if I had a stable job, if I had a nice place to live. I think once upon a time, I saw myself married by 30 and kids by, maybe, 35. Obviously I’m married now, though, so.” He looked over at Frankie. “What? What are you biting your lip about?”

“Okay, so if we bump all that up, since we’re already married…” Frankie trailed off, waiting for Zach to fill in the rest.

Zach shrugged. “I don’t know, I guess that makes it kids by, like, 29 or 30.”

“Honey, I’m 8 years older than you. We’re not waiting until you’re 30. I’ll be 38 years old. I’m not having my first kid at 38.” Zach laughed. “I’m telling you right now I’m not waiting until I’m 38. You’ll have your first kid, if it’s with me, by 27.”

“Nahhh, I think 30--”

“Nope, not happening.”

Their friends laughed as they bickered, watching them go back and forth.

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_I love babies, I love kids. It’s absolutely important to me to have a partner that wants a family and wants kids. I’m not getting any younger._

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_I want children, I do. But, you know, we haven’t even been married for a full month yet. It’s crazy to talk about kids when we just met. I just graduated from college less than a year ago. It’s hard for me to picture toting around a bunch of babies before I’m even 30. This is just something we’re going to have to talk about and compromise on. I have to take into consideration the fact that he’s 8 years older than me and is ready to settle down with a family, and he’s going to have to consider the fact that I’m not quite there yet._

**

“I thought I was going to be marrying someone around my age. Instead I got a college graduate. That means you have to compromise _more_ ,” Frankie said.

Zach grinned. “Okay, you wanted an older man. So how about we wait until I’m older, and then we’ll have kids.” 

Frankie found himself laughing and leaned against Zach, shaking his head in exasperation. “What am I going to do with you?”

“I mean, we could always _practice_ trying to have kids,” Zach flirted. Frankie smiled and kissed him.

**

It was January 5th -- 3 weeks and 2 days after they met and had gotten married. Frankie was getting ready to leave for the theatre, and Zach had been taking a nap since he got home from work a couple hours ago.

Frankie was in the bedroom grabbing his keys and his phone when he noticed Zach had his eyes open watching him. He smiled at Zach and put his stuff down. 

“Hey,” Zach said sleepily. Frankie leaned over to kiss him. “What’s up, Frankie?”

“Good morning,” he teased softly. He climbed into the bed, draping himself over Zach and cuddling with him.

“Mmm,” Zach sighed in content. “What’s up dude?”

“It’s, like, 8pm.” 

They both laughed. “And I’m still gonna sleep for like 2 more hours.” Frankie giggled, rubbing Zach’s arms. They were starting to get into the habit of having alternate sleep habits because of their work schedules, often joking about it in the hours of the day they were conscious. While it was unfortunate, Frankie wasn’t going to complain as long as he got to see how cute Zach looked when he was cuddled under the covers, looking peaceful and comfortable. It was worth it when he got to come back home to Zach every night.

“We’ll do shifts,” Frankie joked. He pressed another kiss against Zach’s neck and got out of bed. “Goodnight, my love.”

“Night. Good luck at the show,” he mumbled, burying his face back into the pillow.

Frankie grabbed his things and left the room, easily ignoring the camera following him around and going into the kitchen to fill his water bottle. 

He cleared his throat and sighed. “God,” he whispered quietly. “I’m kind of in love with him. I’m kind of, _for real, for real_ , kind of, kind of falling in love with him. Just the cutest.”

It was something he had felt a little bit back at Christmas and again, stronger, at New Year’s Eve. It was there in the quiet moments they shared away from the cameras. It was there when they were being intimate. And every day, it felt like it was pushing its way out more insistently. He hadn’t expected to be falling in love so quickly, but it was getting hard to deny and getting harder to want to deny it. It was only a matter of time before it came spilling out.

He just hoped Zach was feeling the same way.


	11. Adjusting to Married Life

**@FrankieJGrande**

_it’s OFFICIAL. Justin is trying to kill me. [skull emojis][see no evil emojis][cat heart eyes emojis]_

**

**@FrankieJGrande**

_When you get that “surprise” you knew was coming. [[gif]]_

**

**@FrankieJGrande**

_thank you @justinbieber for making this the greatest #ToplessTuesday ever in the history of the world. [heart emojis]_

**

**@FrankieJGrande**

_nobody gets between me and my calvins...except #frustin. [[fan edit]]_

**

**frankiejgrande**

_happy happy happy HAPPY #toplesstuesday. [clapping emoji][heart emoji] @justinbieber [[fan edit]]_

** 

**@FrankieJGrande**

_he’s perfect._

**@ranceypants**

_@FrankieJGrande ok_

** 

**@FrankieJGrande**

_hey Justin… I put on #mycalvins just for you. [heart eyes emoji] instagram.com/p/xiZPejsihB/ [[photo]]_

**frankiejgrande**

_Alright Justin… I put on #myclavins just for you. [[photo]]_

** 

“Honey,” Frankie said, sitting down next to Zach on the bed after he got back from the theatre. “C’mon, I thought we could drool over Justin’s pictures together.” 

Zach scowled, turning away from him and tugging the blanket up higher. “Not my type.” 

“Since when is hot not your type?” 

Zach glared at the wall. “He’s not _that_ hot. But go ahead and drool over him if that’s what you want. You act like you’ve never seen abs and a guy wearing briefs before.” 

Frankie climbed further into the bed, leaning over Zach so he could see his face. “Are you jealous? I thought we talked about this. I’m going to find other guys attractive.” 

“Great,” he said sarcastically. “Can you go find him attractive somewhere else so I can go to sleep?” 

Frankie pursed his lips. “That’s it? You’re not going to talk to me about why you’re upset?” 

“Nope. I’m going to sleep. Goodnight.” 

Frankie stared at the back of his head for a moment. “Fine.” 

** 

**@FrankieJGrande**

_i actually can’t beliebe how many pairs of Calvin Klein underwear i just ordered._

** 

The next morning, Zach left for work without saying goodbye to Frankie. He got up, brushed his teeth, got dressed as quickly as possible, grabbed his bag, keys, and phone, and walked out the door. 

He was distracted all day, constantly checking his phone for some unknown reason. He spilled his coffee, nearly shredded some paperwork by accident, didn’t hold the door open for his boss, and was late to a meeting. 

Back at the apartment, Frankie spent the day cleaning, something he did to clear his head. He kept thinking about how upset Zach had been with him last night and how he hadn’t kissed Frankie goodbye before he’d gone to work. Every scrub of a dish or sweep of the mop against the floor helped take Frankie’s mind off of everything. 

By the time Zach got home, Frankie had finished cleaning the apartment top to bottom and was getting ready to leave to rehearse for his Livin’ La Vida Grande show a couple weeks from now. 

Zach looked at him and looked away as he put his keys on the island and took his coat off. 

Frankie contemplated not saying anything, then set his jaw as he watched Zach move about the apartment. 

“You’re late.” 

Zach shrugged. “Went to AJ’s after work.” 

Frankie raised his eyebrow at Zach’s back. “You could have texted.” 

Zach sat down on the couch, grabbing the remote to turn the TV on. “Thought you’d be too busy jerking off to pictures of Justin Bieber to notice.” 

Frankie tightened his grip on the kitchen island and counted to ten in his head. “I don’t have time for this.” 

“Of course not,” Zach said. “There’s only so many hours in the day, and filling them with Justin Bieber is much more important.” 

Frankie bit his tongue, not wanting to say something he’d regret. “I have to go rehearse for my show. I’ll be home around 9.” 

“Whatever.” 

Frankie waited a moment and walked over to Zach, sitting on the arm of the couch. “Can we talk about this when I get home?” 

Zach shrugged again. “Don’t know why you care. In a few weeks, you can get rid of me and go marry Justin--” 

“Stop,” Frankie insisted gently. “You’re making this into something it’s not.” 

Zach crossed his arms over his chest and kept his eyes on the TV, remaining silent. 

Frankie sighed and leaned down, pressing a soft kiss against Zach’s cheek. “I love you,” he said quietly. He got no response and got off the couch, grabbing his backpack by the door. “Tiger’s already had his dinner. I left a plate of food for you in the fridge. I’ll see you when I get home.” 

** 

Zach sat around the apartment after Frankie left and replayed their conversation in his head. He was still mad about the night before, but he was also sad because he didn’t want to be fighting with Frankie. He just wanted to hug and kiss Frankie and forget about everything, but his pride and his ego wouldn’t let him. 

He groaned and pulled out his cell phone, texting one of the show’s experts, Dr. Pepper Schwartz. He’d made a dozen ‘Dr. Pepper’ jokes during the process of him applying for the show, and she would just roll her eyes at him and get him back on topic. 

They were at the point in the show where they were encouraged to reach out to the experts to talk about their feelings about the marriage thus far. And while Zach would rather keep it all bottled in, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to talk to someone who could give their expert opinion on everything. 

He texted her, asking if she had time to talk tonight. She responded not long after, telling him she would be free for a Skype call in a half hour. He confirmed and spent the next half hour waiting impatiently in the apartment. He brought out his laptop, setting it on the kitchen island and loading up Skype, then opened the fridge, seeing the plate of food Frankie had left him. He smiled a little, taking it out to eat. 

** 

“I just...I know he’s going to be attracted to other people. I know that doesn’t just stop because there’s a ring on his finger. But I just feel like, because his fans don’t know he’s married, he gets to pretend he’s single and talk about other guys on social media and like their pictures and...I don’t know. He knows I can see it all, but it’s like he doesn’t consider the fact that I might be hurt by him ogling all these other guys. And I don’t know how to talk to him about it. I don’t know how to express to him that I have this fear of him leaving me for someone better.” 

He watched Dr. Pepper nod to him in the Skype window. “Your situation is very tricky because of Frankie’s status. It’s not as black and white as it would be if you were both just two random people in New York with no hint of a fanbase behind you. But you can’t let that hinder your growth as a couple. If you let it get in the way, you’re not going to make it. And with you specifically, Zach, this is really your first real relationship. You’ve never really had to deal with jealousy and fear, because you never put forth the effort and the desire to be in a relationship.” 

“Yea.” 

“But I think it says a lot that you _are_ feeling those things, because it shows that you have feelings for Frankie and you’re making an attempt at making this marriage work. Your feelings are absolutely valid. Marriage isn’t perfect. You’re going to have bumps in the road. There are going to be times like this where you’re confused and upset and afraid. But that’s okay. What’s not okay is keeping things bottled in and not talking about it with Frankie. You need to communicate so that he knows how you’re feeling and how he can make you not feel this way in the future. It doesn’t help to lash out or to give the silent treatment, because that puts you at a standstill.” 

Zach ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “It’s just hard for me to explain myself in situations like this. I don’t like being vulnerable like this.” 

Dr. Pepper smiled at him. “You know, part of the reason we paired you two together was because of how similar you are. It may not seem like it at times, but you both share a lot in common when it comes to how you feel in relationships. What I want you to do is to sit down with Frankie and talk to him just like you’ve talked to me tonight. Explain to him how it makes you feel when he talks about other men. Let him express his feelings in return. And try not to shut down and stop the conversation before a resolution is reached. Do you understand?” 

Zach nodded. “I understand. I’ll try. Thanks Dr. Pepper.” 

** 

**@FrankieJGrande**

_Just finished rehearsal for #livinlavidaGRANDE! It’s going to SHINE SO BRIGHT!!! [glitter emojis] who’s coming!? [tongue sticking out emoji] [[photo]]_

** 

When Frankie got home, Zach was sitting up in their bed, playing on his phone. 

Zach looked up at him and put his phone down. “Hey,” he said quietly. “How was rehearsal?” 

Frankie took his shirt off, getting ready for bed. “It was good. It’ll be a good show.” 

Zach nodded. “Can’t wait to see it.” He bit his lip, watching Frankie take his pants off and put them in the hamper. “Can we talk?” 

Frankie thought about giving some sassy retort, but decided against it and nodded, climbing into the bed beside Zach. He watched Zach bite on his fingernails and grabbed Zach’s hand, lacing their fingers together and resting their hands in his lap. 

Zach took a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking and took a deep breath. “I talked to Dr. Pepper while you were at rehearsal. I thought it would be good to have an outside, professional opinion to help me figure shit out. And she thinks I need to be open and try to communicate with you how I’m feeling, so…” 

He squeezed Zach’s hand. “Okay.” 

“I...I feel like...you get to live these two separate lives. When we’re here or when we’re with friends or family, we’re married and we’re happy and everything’s great. But as soon as you get on Twitter or instagram or whatever, you act like you’re single. You like pictures of all these guys that are practically naked and you tweet about Justin Bieber for hours, and it’s like I don’t even exist.” 

Frankie frowned. “That’s not true.” 

“It _is_ true,” he stressed. “And I get that your fans don’t know we’re married and won’t know about that until the show airs, but it seriously sucks having you drool over all these other guys on social media like I’m not sitting here waiting for you to come home every night.” 

“I thought we talked about the attraction thing when Elissa came over that day.” 

“That’s not the problem!” Zach exclaimed, letting go of Frankie’s hand. “I don’t give a shit that you think some other guys are hot. If that’s all it was, I’d be jealous, but I wouldn’t be upset like this.” 

Frankie sighed in exasperation. “Then why are you upset like this? I don’t get it, Zach. If me thinking Justin and some other guys are attractive isn’t the problem, then what is?” 

“God, it’s…” He groaned, dragging his hands down his face. “If you had just been looking at his pictures and not tweeting about them all night, I probably would’ve looked at them with you when you came home. But you sat at the theatre and tweeted about them over and over again, you kept going on about how he’s perfect and how it was the ‘best Topless Tuesday ever’ and...it’s like you completely forget that you have a husband as soon as you get on social media.” 

“Zach,” Frankie said. “That’s not...I don’t forget.” 

“That makes it worse! Because then you know that I’m sitting at home, and you’re choosing to stare at pictures of someone who’s not me and tweet about them for hours.” 

Frankie opened his mouth to speak when Zach sniffled, and Frankie noticed the way his eyes were all wet with tears. “Hey,” he said softly. He pulled Zach a little closer, letting him lean his head against Frankie’s shoulder. 

“I don’t care that you think he’s hot. But...you have this connection with him. You know him. He and your sister share a manager. He fits into your world in a way that I don’t. It would be so easy for you to just up and leave me for him.” He felt the tears leaking out of his eyes and sniffled again, wiping his face despite the fact that tears kept coming down. 

“Zach. Justin is straight. You don’t have anything to worry about.” 

“But what if he wasn’t? What if next week, he came out as bi or gay or anything that allowed you to be with him? You can’t tell me that you wouldn’t go for it in a heartbeat.” 

Frankie wiped a tear off Zach’s face. “Yes I can,” he said. 

Zach shook his head, taking his head off Frankie’s shoulder. “Don’t lie! You’ve been obsessed with this guy for years. If he came out, you’d be all over it.” 

“Maybe. If he came out before all this, then you’re probably right. I would’ve been all over him in a second. But now? Zach, we’re married. I don’t take that lightly. And you _know_ that. I have spent three weeks getting to know you and making a home with you and...falling for you. I don’t know what I can say to convince you of that. You’re the one I want to be with. Justin is...you are more important to me than Justin Bieber.” 

Zach was shaking his head again, and Frankie could see the pillow getting wet as Zach’s tears fell down on the fabric. “I don’t...I don’t fit into this life you have. You do all these things at award shows and you have all these opportunities coming up, and your sister is fucking famous as hell. You have all these guys that would kill to be with you, and--” 

“And they’re not _you_.” Frankie lifted Zach’s face, forcing him to look him in the eye. “They’re not you. The only guy I care that wants me is you. You fit into my life because I want you to fit into my life. All you have to do is be here. That’s all you have to do. My family and my friends, they love you, and they see how happy you make me. They’ve already accepted you into our life. You’re in it. I am _sorry_ if I made you doubt my feelings for you by tweeting about Justin or liking pictures of other guys on instagram. I’m sorry. That’s not what I wanted to do. I have been single for 3 years. It’s going to take a little longer than 3 weeks to get accustomed to the fact that I’m in a relationship and that I have to think about how you’d feel.” 

Zach lets Frankie pull him back into his arms and watches his tears fall onto Frankie’s skin. “I’m afraid that someone’s going to give you a better offer, and that you’re going to end up with someone a million times hotter and richer and smarter and funnier than me, and I’m going to end up alone again.” 

Frankie tilted Zach’s head up to look in his eyes again, then trailed his hand down to rest over Zach’s heart. “There is no better offer than this,” he said firmly. “ _This_ is the best offer I ever could have asked for. Justin has _nothing_ on you.” 

He wiped Zach’s tears away with his thumbs. He let Zach take the time to compose himself and gave him a small smile when he met Frankie’s eyes again. Frankie leaned in a little, waiting for Zach’s approval before he closed the gap, kissing him softly on the lips. 

** 

Frankie nuzzled Zach’s neck sleepily, his arms wrapped around his waist. “I don’t want you to go to work,” he whined. 

Zach giggled. “I have to. I took off too much time over the holidays.” 

He pouted. “Just quit your job and let me be your sugar daddy.” Zach laughed loudly. 

“Frankie!” he squealed, trying to escape from Frankie’s grasp. Frankie bit his ear, and Zach leaned into it, sighing in content. “I don’t need a sugar daddy. But you can be my daddy, daddy,” he said, imitating Frankie’s Marilyn character. 

Frankie grinned, pressing a kiss against Zach’s lips. “I love you.” 

Zach smiled up at him. “I love you too.” 

** 

Frankie laced their hands together as they walked down the street. Zach followed along as they went to the grocery store. 

“Are you sure you have time to go shopping before you have to go to the theatre?” 

Frankie smiled at him. “I’ve got plenty of time. All the time in the world for my husband.” 

Zach giggled. “Stahhp.” 

They entered the store and spent time going up and down the aisles, throwing stuff into their cart as they went. 

“We need bagels,” Zach said. 

Frankie laughed. “Yes, bagels for my bagel enthusiast.” He kissed Zach’s cheek and lead him down the aisle where the bagels were. They grabbed a couple different kinds of bagels and put them in the cart, then headed down the next aisle. 

By the time they got to the register, they had a decent amount of groceries in their cart. Frankie loaded them onto the conveyor belt as Zach got out his wallet. Frankie gave him a look. 

“Put your wallet away. I’ve got it.” 

“Uh, no, I’ve got it,” Zach said, taking a card out. 

“Zach, c’mon, put it away.” 

“No.” 

Frankie put the last item on the belt and gave him another look. “Don’t be annoying. Just let me pay.” 

“I’m not being annoying, you’re being annoying. My wallet’s already out.” 

“Please put it away,” Frankie said. “Please.” 

“Frankie, stop. I’m buying our groceries. End of story.” 

He handed the cashier his card before Frankie could say anything else. Frankie bit his lip and rested his chin on Zach’s shoulder. “Thank you,” he said quietly. 

** 

**@FrankieJGrande**

_Late dinner with @ranceypants post-show. [sparkly heart emoji] #zankie_

**@ranceypants**

_[smirk emoji] [kiss emoji]_

** 

“Shit,” Zach moaned. Frankie bobbed his head in Zach’s lap, taking him in further. He had two fingers in Zach’s ass, and Zach felt like he couldn’t catch his breath. 

Frankie pulled off and replaced his mouth with his hand, grinned up at Zach. “Thanks for making dinner, baby. It was delicious.” 

Zach groaned, lifting his hips to meet Frankie’s hand. “Yea. ‘Course.” 

He licked at Zach’s tip, keeping eye contact with Zach. “Though I have to admit. I think I like dessert better.” 

Zach laughed breathlessly. “Me too.” 

He winked at Zach and took him back in his mouth. 

** 

**Zach Rance, 24**

_Things are getting better. There’s still a bit of tension from our fight, but we’re working on it. Frankie’s putting in a lot of effort to show me that he wants to be with me and not with other guys. It’s only fair of me to move past it and try not to get sucked into my insecurities and doubting his feelings. Because I know his feelings are genuine. I do. Like Dr. Pepper said, I felt those things because I have real feelings for Frankie and I’m afraid of losing him. I can’t push him away. I have to trust him and trust his feelings for me so that we can be happy._


	12. Conflict

“Wanna come on a walk with me and Tiger?” Zach asked, pressing a kiss against the back of Frankie’s neck.

Frankie hummed, checking the clock. “Sure, I’ve got time.”

Zach smiled, leading Frankie out of their room, getting Tiger on his leash, and leaving their apartment.

It was snowing outside, adding more to the piles of snow that had already lined the streets for days. Zach had the end of Tiger’s leash in one hand and Frankie’s hand holding his other. They talked along the way, and every time he stepped in some slush on the sidewalk, Zach complained about the weather in New York.

“I literally can’t wait to go back to Florida. If I never have to look at snow again, it’ll be too fucking soon.”

Frankie shook his head in disbelief. "I love the snow. It's pretty."

"Babe, freezing to death is not pretty. Neither is all this black slushy shit it turns into."

"You're such a big baby. The snow makes everything seem all quiet and peaceful."

Zach rolled his eyes. "We're in _New York_. There's nothing quiet and peaceful about it."

Frankie pulled him to a stop. Zach raised his eyebrow at him. "Do you not want to live in New York or something?"

Zach sighed. "I like New York just fine. I just love Florida and the heat. It’s nice.”

Frankie bit his lip. “So...what, do you want to move back there?”

He hesitated. “I don’t know. I mean...my family and my friends are there. Your family is there. I can golf year round.”

“I don’t want to live in Florida,” Frankie stated firmly. “Visiting for a couple weeks at a time, sure. But here or LA are the only places I would ever live in. And even then, I would only live in LA for work. New York is my home.”

Living outside of New York on a permanent basis was a deal breaker for Frankie. When he’d moved to the city when he was younger, he knew he would always end up back here if he ever had to relocate for work. The thought that Zach wanted to live in Florida and have that be their home made him anxious.

Zach stepped closer to Frankie, looking him in the eye and waiting a moment. “ _You’re_ my home,” he said gently. He saw Frankie’s eyes soften and smiled. “I’d follow you anywhere. Wherever you want us to build our life together...I’m there.”

Frankie let Zach pull him into a kiss, then gave him a small smile. “You’re really cute, you know that?”

**

_Zach Rance favorited_  
**@FrankieJGrande**

_I’ve got a big announcement but...I can’t tell you what it is yet! Feel free to guess tho! [smiley tongue emoji] [kiss emoji]_

**

Zach giggled, pressing kisses against Frankie’s neck. “You’re teasing your fans.”

Frankie laughed, holding Zach close to him. “You favoriting it is going to cause even more teasing, because they’re going to think it’s about you.”

“It is about me.” 

He kissed down Frankie’s chest, nipping and licking the skin he found. “ _A_ surprise is about you. This one is about my birthday.”

“Tomato, to-mah-to,” he mumbled.

Frankie sighed softly as Zach reached his waist. “Alright, alright. Why don’t you surprise me with your blowjob skills?” he teased.

**

“Alright, my love, I’m off to see Dr. Joseph, and then I’ll be at the theatre. So I’ll see you at our session with Dr. Joseph after that, okay?”

Zach pouted, tugging him back into the bed. “I’m not gonna see you all day.”

Frankie rubbed his ear soothingly, giving him a kiss. “I’ll see you tonight. Good luck at your session with him this afternoon. After our joint session, we’ll get some food and come home and relax. Sound like a plan?”

He sighed, nuzzling into Frankie’s neck. “I guess.” Frankie kissed him again. “Good luck with him and at the theatre.”

“Thank you, my darling.” Zach giggled and slapped Frankie’s ass as he got up and left the room.

**

“So a lot’s happened since I’ve seen you last,” Dr. Joseph laughed.

Frankie laughed with him and settled into his chair. “You could say that.” Frankie liked Dr. Joseph. Among the experts for the show, he was probably Frankie’s favorite. He had this nice, calming demeanor about himself that made Frankie just want to pour his heart out to him whenever they spoke.

“So I just want to get a sense from you things that you think are important for me to hear.”

Frankie nodded. “Well, you know, Zach and I connected very quickly, I feel like. We had a beautiful wedding and honeymoon. The holidays were great for the most part. We had a hiccup with his grandmother. She is not supportive of our marriage, and because of that, we were not invited to Hanukkah dinner at her house. It really hurt Zach, and he took that out on me. He said some hurtful things, basically blaming me for not being a woman his grandmother would approve of, or not being the one to match him with a woman. It was a bump in the road, but we moved past it to have a nice Christmas.”

“Now when you say ‘moved past it’, do you mean you talked about it and then moved on, or you just swept it under the rug and ignored it?”

“We talked about it, but it was a brief conversation. I was mad he was blaming me, and I told him that, and he apologized. But I was able to move on quickly from it because I understand how it feels when someone you love doesn’t accept you and how you can react from that, so I just wanted to show him love and happiness and acceptance within my family and show him how nice it can be. So everything was great, we had a great New Year’s in Times Square with some friends. Then New Year’s Day, we had friends over to hang out and get to know each other, and Zach made a comment about how this experience is going to be a great story to tell our children.”

Dr. Joseph tilted his head at him. “And how did that make you feel?”

Frankie exhaled heavily. “It made me feel good. It caught me off guard that he was thinking about children, but it made me incredibly happy, because I want a family.” He ran his hand through his hair. “But then my friends asked questions, and he said he doesn’t want kids until he’s 30. And I didn’t really want to have a big argument in front of my friends, and I had to go to my show after they left, so the topic was kind of dropped. But I told him I didn’t want to wait that long and that I wanted to have kids within the next few years. That’s something that’s really important to me and we...I don’t want to say we reached a compromise, but we’ve agreed that if we decide to stay together after this experiment, we’ll both be open to what each other want and be open to the idea.”

He nodded at Frankie. “That’s good. Keeping an open line of communication is important. I think what’s important for you to remember is that this is really Zach’s first relationship. It’s going to be hard for him to jump from casual dating in college to being ready for a family. Marriage is a huge step for him, especially at his age. I’ll bring this up in our joint session later tonight, but I want you to sit down and talk with Zach some more about this, because I know it’s something that you want to happen in a much shorter period of time than he does. And if this is something that he’s not willing to do within a time frame you have in mind, it’s important for you both to know this before the end of the experiment.”

Frankie looked down, twisting his bracelets around his wrist. “I know.”

“Okay. Anything else?”

Frankie wiped his hands on his pants. “We...we had a big fight a few days ago. Zach was hurt because I was tweeting about these pictures of Justin Bieber and I liked some pictures of guys on instagram. He didn’t want to speak to me. It was hard. But he talked to Dr. Pepper while I was at my show, and when I came home, we talked about it. I didn’t realize how much it would affect him, or how afraid he was of me leaving him for someone else.”

“Zach needs reassurance in relationships, and that has a lot to do with his lack of a long term dating history. He’s used to people leaving him. So while you might not see it as a big deal, it brings back those old feelings from his past. It makes him feel doubt," Dr. Joseph explained. "We'll talk about this later as well. But keep in mind that, as much as you feel like this was a quick connection, you're still different people with different experiences. And over time, you'll learn each other's fears and hopes and strengths and weaknesses, and be able to know how your partner will react to a given situation."

**

"Zach. It's good to see you again."

Zach smiled, shaking Dr. Joseph's hand. "You too."

"So, catch me up to speed. How have things been with you and Frankie?"

Zach folded his hands together. "Things have been good. We've been getting to know each other and we have a lot in common. He's probably the funniest person I know, and I'm always smiling when I'm around him. He cares so much about everyone. He’s like an angel.”

Dr. Joseph smiled at him. “Sounds like you’ve developed a lot of feelings for him.”

Zach blushed a little. “I mean that’s the point of this experiment, right? Frankie’s a great guy. No matter what, he always tells me he cares about how I feel and he listens to me when I have to talk about things. He lets me explain how I feel about things and get everything off my chest. And I need that. That means a lot to me. He means a lot to me.”

“That’s good, Zach. I’m really happy to hear that. Now, let’s talk about some of the things that have made you upset and have that need to get things off your chest. Frankie explained his side of things, now I want to hear your side.”

Zach hesitated. “I-I don’t want to say anything bad about Frankie.”

“I’m not asking you to. Just tell me about some of your downfalls. Tell me about the argument you had a few days ago.”

Zach adjusted the pink hat on his head. “I...I don’t know. Looking back on it, it doesn’t seem like a big deal. It just...it doesn’t make me feel good when he talks about other guys or flirts with other guys. I know, logically, that he wouldn’t act on anything with anyone else. But it just made me question his feelings and I wanted to distance myself from him emotionally.” He smiled a little, picking at the fabric of his jeans. “But Frankie’s as stubborn as I am and he wanted to talk about it, and he didn’t want me to keep a wall up. So I talked to Dr. Pepper, and then I talked to him, and now we’re in a better place, I think. Obviously I know it’s unrealistic to expect him to not look at other guys, because I do it too. It was just kind of a sucky situation with his fans not knowing he and I are married, but they get to see him talking about hot guys. It was hard to get past.”

“Well I want to commend you on taking that initiative to talk to Dr. Pepper and communicating with Frankie how you feel. You only have 6 weeks to get to know each other, so any and all communication is really important.” Zach saw the corners of Dr. Joseph’s mouth twitch as he tried to repress a smile and got a brief flood of nerves at what he’d say next. “Frankie tells me you talked about children.”

Zach groaned. “Of course he did.”

He laughed. “Tell me what you’re thinking in regards to that. Obviously Frankie is older than you, and he’s ready to settle down and have a family. Does that scare you?”

“I mean, yea. But it’s not, like...a bad scare,” he explained. “Just...I’ve never thought about having kids with anyone before. But with Frankie...it’s like I can’t help it. I just keep thinking about our future and where we’ll spend anniversaries, and who will take the kids to golf and dance practices, and how many we’ll have, and how we’ll afford to send them all to college. I’m, like, sweating just thinking about it right now. I feel like I shouldn’t be thinking about that stuff this early in our marriage.”

Dr. Joseph sat forward in his seat a little. “I want to show you a video from your interview process, and you can tell me what you think afterwards.”

He pulled out an iPad and started tapping on the screen. Zach felt anxious as the device was turned towards him, his own face on the screen. Dr. Joseph pressed play on the video, and Zach’s voice filled the room.

_“My parents were engaged just a week after they started dating. They got married not long after that, and then I came along. Growing up, I never understood how everything happened so fast between them, but it was something I desperately wanted. My buddies would all talk about all these girls they wanted to hook up with, and I’d join in and maybe take it a little over the top. But inside, I knew that wasn’t really my scene. I just wanted a relationship with someone. I wanted what my parents had. I always pictured myself finding some girl and falling in love with her, getting married, and having a bunch of kids. After a while, that image flipped back and forth between falling for a girl and falling for a guy, but I always kept it all inside, because my friends would think it was stupid and ‘girly’ or too ‘gay’. This experiment...I want what I’ve always secretly wanted. I want to fall in love, I want someone to fall in love with me back, and I want to have my own family that I can love and take care of for the rest of my life. It sounds cheesy and fairytale-like, but it would make me happy. That’s what I want. I want to be happy.”_

Zach giggled nervously as Dr. Joseph put the iPad down and looked at him. “Do you remember that?”

Zach bit his lip and nodded. “Yea. Of course.”

“So if a family is what you want, why are you telling Frankie you don’t want kids until much later down the line?”

He sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I think I’m just, like, afraid that I’m imagining his feelings for me and that when we make our decision in a couple weeks, he’s going to ask for a divorce. I don’t want to want this as much as I want this only to end up back at square one.”

“Well, Zach, let me assure you, you’re not the only one in your relationship that feels that way. This fear you’re both feeling is absolutely reasonable. But you’re not alone in that fear.” Zach kept fidgeting in his chair and Dr. Joseph sat up straighter in his seat. “Why don’t we pick this back up when Frankie gets here? I want to have both of you address your feelings with each other.”

**

Zach smiled up at Frankie as he entered the room, coming to sit down beside him. Frankie smiled back, giving Zach a kiss and lacing their hands together. “Hey,” Zach said softly. “How was the theatre?”

“It was good. Sorry we had to do this so late.”

“It’s alright,” Dr. Joseph said. “Why don’t we get started so you guys can go home? I think one thing that jumped out at me in both your individual sessions is that you both very obviously care about each other, probably a lot more than you planned at this point, and it’s making you both fearful that it’s going to end just as quickly.”

Zach and Frankie both agreed. Zach decided to continue on. “I think...I think what makes me nervous is, right now, we have two completely opposite schedules. I work mornings and afternoons, and Frankie works at nights. And when I’m not working on the weekends, he works afternoons _and_ nights. So we don’t have all this time together. We make the most of what we have, and for the most part, it’s really good. But I’m afraid that, if we decide to stay together, and this experiment ends, and Frankie’s shows end, and we end up having more and more time together, we might find that we don’t feel the same and what we have might fizzle out.”

Frankie squeezed his hand. “You’ve never told me that before.”

Zach shrugged. “I don’t know, there’s just nothing we can do about our schedules right now, and I don’t want to make it seem like I don’t want you working, or that I don’t want to be working. But I just don’t want this experiment to end and for us to find out we actually hate spending time together or something.”

“And I get that. But, you know, the first couple weeks of our marriage, it was just us. We didn’t have work responsibilities. It was almost completely just us spending time together for days on end. And those were some of our best days.”

“Yea, because everything was new and exciting. I just don’t want that feeling to go away,” Zach admitted.

Dr. Joseph stepped in. “This is good. You two have a way of playing off each other and letting each other explain how you’re feeling. That’s important. And Zach, don’t feel like this is something you shouldn’t be feeling. Obviously, every married couple would love to stay in that honeymoon phase forever and have everything be perfect. But that’s unrealistic. I know that you know there will be problems, and you’ll have fights, and some will be worse than others. But that also doesn’t mean that your relationship can’t feel exciting and new as you move forward. Every change in your life is going to bring back that feeling: if you decide to move, if you decide to buy a house, if you decide to have children…” he trailed off, smirking a little at the two of them. “That’s all going to bring back those excited feelings. And since we’re on the subject...Zach? Why don’t you tell Frankie about our conversation about kids earlier?”

Frankie looked at him with a nervous, hopeful look on his face, and it made Zach feel even more nervous. He felt his hand starting to sweat in Frankie’s grasp, but he needed that touch to maintain some sense of calm. “Um...okay, so...I know I’ve been kind of pushing you back a little with the kid talk. And Dr. Joseph showed me a video from one of my interviews where I talk about how…” He took a deep breath, getting the nerve to push past the anxious feeling he had. “How I want to have what my parents have, and I want to have a family. It’s something I’ve always wanted in the back of my mind, but I haven’t admitted to because I’ve never had someone in my life who wanted that with me. And I guess I just have this residual fear that you’re going to leave at the end of 6 weeks, so I’ve been keeping thoughts of having kids with you at a distance so that I don’t get hurt.”

Frankie shifted in his seat to face Zach better. “Why didn’t you just tell me that?”

He shrugged. “Because it sounds so lame saying it outloud. And it’s like...I’m making so many changes so fast in my life right now, between coming out and moving to New York, and now getting married. Thinking about adding kids to the equation--even though I do want them--it just kinda freaked me out and made me think about everything that could go wrong. And then we had that fight and it just kept nagging at me in the back of my mind that you could leave me for someone else, and...I don’t know.”

“Zach,” Frankie said gently. Zach almost hated the way it made him feel like a wild animal Frankie was trying to tame. “I don’t _want_ to leave you. And I know we’ve already had this conversation, but I’m going to say it again. You’re the one I want in my life. I know this has all happened really fast, and it definitely scares me too, but I just need you to have absolute faith in our relationship and know that I’m in this just as much as you are.” 

“I do know that.”

“And that as much as I want kids, I want you to feel secure and cared for before we bring any children into our lives.”

Zach looked at him shyly. “I know.”

**

Frankie and Zach walked into their apartment, fast food bags in hand, and settled onto the couch. Frankie waited until they were at least halfway done before turning to Zach.

“You really want to have kids with me?”

Zach giggled. “Frankieeee.” He squeezed his hands together to contain his nerves. “I...I mean, yea. But, like, I still want to wait a while.”

“Honey, I’m not asking you to have a bunch of kids with me in the next few weeks,” Frankie laughed. “I just want to know that I’m not waiting until I’m 40 for us to have kids.” Zach giggled nervously, biting his lip.

“More like waiting until you’re 33.”

Frankie’s eyes lit up. “Are you being serious?”

He buried his face in Frankie’s neck. “I just want to wait, like, a year. At least a year. Obviously I want to be with you and I want to have a family with you. I just don’t want to rush it.”

“Okay,” Frankie agreed quickly. “Okay, I can wait a year.”

He tilted Zach’s head up and kissed him eagerly. Zach laughed, letting Frankie push him down onto the couch and kiss him more. His legs wrapped around Frankie’s waist, pressing himself along Frankie’s body.

“I’ll be lucky if you let me last the six months until the reunion special before you’re begging me to have kids again,” Zach breathed, arching into Frankie’s hands sliding down his body.

Frankie giggled, biting down on Zach’s neck. “I just want to have your babies,” he teased.

“You can have them.”


	13. Intimacy

**Zach Rance, 24**

_Frankie and I had sex on our wedding night. I wasn’t really sure if it was going to happen, because it was the first day we met. But we took that step and...I think it was good for us. We connect really well, and having sex is part of that. I can’t explain it. It just makes me feel close to him. But it’s more than just the sex. It’s the hand holding and the cuddling and the kissing. It all makes me feel like we belong together and like this was supposed to happen._

**

Frankie kissed the top of Zach’s head and started rubbing his shoulders. “You want pasta for lunch?”

Zach closed his eyes at the touch. “Yea, pasta sounds good.” He felt a sigh leave his lips as Frankie’s thumbs dug into his muscles, relieving some tension. “Thank you, that feels amazing.”

Frankie smiled. “Good, I’m glad.”

**

Zach jolted awake in their bed as Frankie’s arms wrapped around him.

“Sorry,” Frankie whispered quickly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Zach relaxed into his arms and took a deep breath, calming his racing heart. “S’okay. Just surprised me.” He burrowed himself in Frankie’s arms, closing his eyes once more. “Glad you’re home. Missed you,” he mumbled.

Frankie smiled, pulling the blanket up over them and pressing himself completely against Zach. “Missed you too,” he whispered.

He buried his face in the back of Zach’s neck and allowed himself to relax. The apartment was quiet and warm, Zach’s hand trailed along his arm, and all he could hear was Zach’s soft breathing beside him. He loved moments like these. All that mattered was him and Zach, and this little bubble they’d created for themselves.

**

“Let’s talk about sex, baby,” Frankie sang, nuzzling Zach’s neck. “Let’s talk about you and me.”

Zach giggled and halfheartedly struggled against Frankie’s grasp. “You are _way_ too excited for Dr. Logan to get here.”

Frankie laughed, pressed a kiss against Zach’s collarbone, and sat up. “She’s nice. And talking about sex makes you horny,” he teased, rubbing the skin above Zach’s pants.

“You’re so mean,” he groaned.

**

“Hi, Dr. Logan. Come on in.”

She entered the apartment and hugged them both. They settled down in the living room, Dr. Logan sitting in a chair across from them.

She smiled at them. “So, Zach, Frankie. First, I have to ask. Have you two consummated your relationship?”

Zach blushed and giggled. Frankie grinned at him and winked as Zach caught his eye.

“Yes, we have,” Frankie answered. “The attraction was there from the start, and it’s just kind of grown since then.”

“Zach, would you agree with that?”

Zach nodded. “I was attracted to Frankie as soon as I saw him. And every day I just get more attracted to him. I think it’s more than just a physical attraction at this point. He’s smart and he’s funny and he’s...my favorite person. It all just makes me want to be with him more.”

Dr. Logan gave them both a look of approval. “That’s good. It sounds like your relationship is developing nicely.” She smiles at them. “So I have some homework for you guys.”

Zach raises his eyebrow as she pulls something out of a bag and sets it on the table beside her. “A fishbowl?”

She laughed, shaking the fishbowl full of slips of paper so they rustled inside. “A fishbowl. Each of these pieces of paper have a question on them that I want you guys to take some time asking each other and getting closer.”

Frankie laughed at the look on Zach’s face and kissed his cheek gently. “We’ve been through worse,” he teased. “It’s just a harmless activity.”

“It sounds cheesy.”

“Good thing you love cheese, then.” He tickled Zach, making him squirm and giggle out Frankie’s name.

Dr. Logan watched their interaction with a smile on her face. When they finally calmed down, she cleared her throat. “I have one more thing for you. I know sometimes it may be hard to remember the good feelings of being emotionally connected and sexually connected and spiritually connected. Things get in the way sometimes, there are obstacles every couple has to go through. You go through these obstacles a lot faster than normal couples, because you’re just getting to know each other. So I want to give you something to remember what that connection feels like.” She goes back into her bag and pulls out a white book, and Zach and Frankie both realize what it is just before they see the cover. “I have your wedding album.”

She held it out to them and Frankie took it, resting it on his lap so he and Zach could see the pictures of themselves on the cover.

“I’ve been dying to see this,” Frankie sighed happily.

They flipped through the book, seeing an array of photos inside, ranging from when they were getting ready all the way to the reception. They stopped at one that showed Zach walking down the aisle towards Frankie, both of them smiling bigger than they ever had before.

Zach traced his fingers over the picture and glanced at Frankie with a small smile. “You took my breath away, you know.”

Frankie felt his stomach doing somersaults and closed the distance between them, kissing him firmly on the lips. “I’m pretty sure that goes both ways, love.”

**

“Fishbowl time!” Frankie exclaimed, jumping onto the bed with Zach.

Zach laughed and steadied him. “Easy! This bed wasn’t cheap.”

Frankie rolled his eyes playfully. “C’mon, I wanna do our assignment.”

Zach groaned. “Babe,” he whined. “I thought we were gonna cuddle.”

“We can cuddle.” He forced himself into Zach’s space, cuddling into his arms and putting the fishbowl on the other side of Zach’s body. “I’ll start.”

Zach sighed and kissed the top of Frankie’s head. “No surprise there.”

He ignored him and reached his hand into the bowl, picking out a piece of paper. “What is your favorite body part on me and why?” He smirked up at Zach, expecting some sexual answer.

Zach reached a hand up, brushing against Frankie’s cheek with his thumb. “Your smile,” he answered, catching Frankie by surprise. “Because if you’re smiling, that means I’m making you happy, and that makes me happy too.”

Frankie watched him for a moment and then buried his face in Zach’s chest. “Now I feel shitty because I was going to say your ass is my favorite.”

Zach laughed, squeezing the back of Frankie’s neck. “It’s okay. I know my ass is amazing.”

“Your everything is amazing,” Frankie corrected, looking back up at him. “You’re the sweetest person I’ve ever met.”

Zach blushed and changed the topic, grabbing a new piece of paper out of the fishbowl. “What is your idea of a perfect romantic evening?”

Frankie hummed, mulling the question over in his head. “Coming home to you, maybe take a nice hot bath together, have some wine, and then just cuddle up with you on the couch or in our bed and make love to you.”

He giggled, twisting his way into Frankie’s arms. “Sounds like something out of a movie.”

“Every day with you feels that way.”

**

Zach walked in the apartment and was immediately greeted by Frankie’s voice, despite the fact that he was nowhere in sight.

“There you are!” Frankie called from the other room. “I hate waking up without you, you know. The bed’s too cold without you in it.”

Zach smiled, putting his keys on the island. “Sorry, babe. I had to run out for a minute.”

“And what exactly was so important you skipped out on morning cuddles?” Frankie asked, coming into the main room from the bedroom. He stopped when he saw Zach standing there with a big smile.

Zach pulled a bouquet of roses out from behind his back, examining Frankie’s expression. “Happy anniversary.”

Frankie stepped forward slowly. “Whaaaat,” he said softly. Zach handed him the flowers and he kept looking back and forth between them and Zach’s face.

Zach shrugged. “It’s been a month. I figured that was worth celebrating.”

“It is,” he said quickly. “It so is. Oh my god.” He threw his arms around Zach and kissed him hard. Zach wrapped his free arm around Frankie’s waist and kissed him back, mentally patting himself on the back for making Frankie happy. “Thank you, Zach. These are beautiful.”

He giggled. “They’re just flowers. It’s not much.”

Frankie shook his head in protest. “They’re not just flowers.”

Somehow, Zach thought he knew what Frankie meant.

**

“C’mon,” Zach whined. 

Frankie slid back inside him slowly, drawing a broken noise from Zach’s throat. He watched Zach’s eyes flutter shut and pressed his lips against Zach’s throat softly before he started thrusting in and out of him.

“Fuck. You’re insatiable tonight.”

Zach giggled a little, lifting his hips to meet Frankie’s. “Looking at our wedding album turned me on.”

“Yes, honey, I’ve gathered that in the last couple of hours,” he teased, picking up the pace of his movements.

Zach moaned as Frankie hit his prostate and once again felt that urgent need to come. He dug his nails into Frankie’s sides, urging him closer. Frankie leaned down to press their lips together, kissing him until there wasn’t a thought in his head aside from Zach’s lips, hands, and how he felt when he was inside him, even after four weeks.

Frankie snuck his hand between them, grabbing Zach’s cock and jerking him off as he continued to fuck him. Zach arched into it, moaning loudly as he came between them a few moments later. Frankie kept thrusting into him until he did the same, filling the condom and breathing heavily into Zach’s neck.

**

Zach groaned. “Frankie, come on. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, Zach.” He rinsed off the cup in his hand, put it in the dish drainer, and grabbed a plate from the sink to wash next.

“These plans were made before I even met you. I can’t just tell my friend that I’m not celebrating his birthday with him anymore. He’s been planning to come up and visit for this for months.”

“I said it’s fine, Zach. Hang out with your friends.”

“It’s not fine, though! You’re mad at me, and I don’t even get the big deal!” he exclaimed.

Frankie put the plate in the dish drainer and spun around to face him. “The _big deal_ is you’re my husband. I thought out of all people, I could count on you to be at my last show.”

“I’m going to both your solo shows next week. It’s not like I’m never seeing you perform again. This isn’t some personal vendetta against you. I haven’t seen these guys in months, and I’m not breaking my plans with them to see a show I’ve already seen,” Zach said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Frankie clenched his jaw. “Well I’m glad this ‘show you’ve already seen’ isn’t important to you, but I’ve been working for this role for years.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth.”

“You know what, forget it. It doesn’t even matter,” Frankie said. “Michael’s coming tonight, and Lauren and Doug will be here this weekend. I’ve got people to come support me, it’s fine.”

Zach felt every muscle in his body tense. “Michael? Douchebag Michael you hooked up with in Orlando?”

“He’s not a douchebag,” Frankie defended. “But yes, that Michael. He’s been planning this trip since I told him I got the role. You wouldn’t want me to break plans with a friend, would you?”

Zach could hear the mock innocence in his tone and he felt all his walls going up. “That’s not the same thing and you know it. I’m going to celebrate my friend’s birthday, not going off to see some guy I’ve fucked. And I can’t believe you’d throw him in my face after he was one of the guys whose pictures you were liking on instagram that we fought about.” He grabbed his keys and his jacket. “Do whatever the fuck you want. I can’t wait until this experiment is over.”

The echo of the door slamming shut behind him filled the apartment, and every step that Zach took felt like a knife was twisting in his chest.


	14. Lifestyle

“Whatever, dude. It doesn’t even matter.”

AJ watched Zach pacing around his apartment, not really sure what to do. “C’mon, bro. I know you’re mad, but you obviously have feelings for him.”

Zach scoffed angrily. “It’s a fucking social experiment! It’s not real! It’s just a stupid TV show! They threw us together to do a social experiment, and that’s it. It doesn’t matter! None of it was fucking _real_. The only reason he probably signed up for this was to help his and his sister’s careers. He’d rather be off fucking _Michael_ or whatever other guy he can get his hands on.”

AJ sighed, grabbing two beers from the fridge and bringing one over to Zach. “I know you don’t actually believe any of that. You’re upset. Which is fine. But don’t try to convince yourself Frankie’s feelings were fake, or that yours were fake, because I saw firsthand how much you guys care about each other.” Zach chugged half his beer in one sitting and AJ stared at his friend sympathetically. “You can crash in your old room tonight, if you want.”

Zach was silent for a moment, staring at the wall across the room. “Thanks, man,” he said quietly.

A few hours later, he crawled into his old bed, pulled the blanket over himself, and stared off into the darkness. He tried falling asleep, but he’d gotten so accustomed to having Frankie cuddled beside him that the bed felt cold and empty. He tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable, but no matter how hard he tried, it just wasn’t his and Frankie’s bed.

As mad at Frankie as he was, all he wanted was to curl himself into Frankie’s arms and slip into a small coma.

**

Frankie sipped his drink through the tiny straw, letting the fuzziness take over his head. It must’ve been around 5 o’clock in the morning, but he had yet to go back to his apartment. He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to face it without Zach being there. It would just make him feel worse than he already did. Instead, he’d asked Doug to go to the apartment to take Tiger out, and then he went off to a club with Michael, drinking his problems away.

Frankie remembered how attracted to Michael he’d been when they met in October. He was tan and muscular and into theatre. Falling into bed with him had been almost expected. But when he’d greeted Michael after his show, all he could notice were his similarities to Zach. They were both around the same height, and had similar hairstyles and facial hair. Frankie was hoping the alcohol would make him forget about his similarities to Zach. Frankie knew that wasn’t working too well when Michael tried kissing him, and Frankie’s emotional state tried convincing him it was Zach, and that there was no fighting going on between them, and he almost let their lips meet.

He was forced back into reality right before Michael's lips touched his, and Frankie moved his head to the side, letting Michael kiss his cheek. Michael took it in stride and started a conversation about how Frankie should try to get Michael a part on a Broadway show so they could be closer together. Somehow, Frankie’s friend Ian had gotten involved in the conversation, and that was the moment Frankie realized he was being used.

If you asked him later, he couldn’t remember a single word he said to them. All he remembered was walking back to his apartment, letting Tiger out of his crate, catching his eyes on the roses Zach had bought him for their one month anniversary, and then dropping onto the couch and bawling his eyes out.

**

**@FrankieJGrande**

_Loves. I learned an important lesson 2night. People will use U. Cause they are desperate and lost. So just move on, forgive, and FORGET. [peace sign emoji] [disappointed emoji]_

**@FrankieJGrande**

_I always have U. and you’re all I need. [happy emoji] [clapping emoji] [sparkly heart emoji] [double heart emoji] [glitter emoji] #Grandtourage_

**@FrankieJGrande**

_it’s just become really difficult for me to figure out which boys are out for me as a person or me as a celebrity & tonight I was let down._

**@FrankieJGrande**

_@ijpaget @themichaelivan I wish u both the best of luck. i’m so sorry u felt the need 2b so dishonest. love u both regardless. good luck._

**@FrankieJGrande**

_STOP LYING 2 ME & TOYING WITH MY AFFECTIONS! I’m a REAL person with REAL emotions. THIS life isn’t a game._

**@FrankieJGrande**

_thank u for all ur support & love. honestly w/ all this confusion w/ Zach & other boys in my life its been a bit of hell. but I’m on my way._

**@FrankieJGrande**

_thank god I love and have you all………._

**@FrankieJGrande**

_sometimes its hard to keep singing when people want to do nothing but seal your light… but that’s my role so i will CONTINUE TO SHINE!!_

**@FrankieJGrande**

_so ill leave you with this. when idiots throw shade. shine brighter. because you are so much better than they will ever be. i love you all._

**

Zach wasn’t really sure why he was awake at 7:19 in the morning, especially when he’d sent an email to his boss last night calling out sick for today. There was no way he would’ve been able to focus on working with how drained he’d felt last night. He’d shut off his daily alarms on his phone and curled into his old bed at AJ’s with the intention of sleeping until this experiment was over. He figured maybe it was just the fact that he was used to being awake this early to go to work, so his body had woken him up anyway.

He stared at his phone where it was plugged in and sitting on the bedside table. He had a strong urge to check to see if Frankie had texted him, which was ridiculous, because Zach had fallen into some half state of unconsciousness around 3am with no word from him.

He groaned and reached out to grab his phone, pulling it back to his spot in the middle of the bed. He pressed the home button to light up his screen, and that was the exact moment adrenaline got his heart pumping rapidly in his chest.

Eight tweets. All sent at least an hour ago. All from an obviously upset Frankie. Only one with his name in it.

He sat up straight in his bed, opening up Twitter and going to Frankie’s page, pointedly ignoring the hundreds and thousands of notifications he had that were probably all from Frankie’s fans.

He scrolled down to the first tweet Frankie had sent and slowly made his way up, reading each one carefully. He saw another tweet that hadn’t appeared on his lockscreen that Frankie had tweeted directly to Michael and Ian. He wasn’t really sure who Ian was, but he felt a flare of anger and protectiveness course through him at the fact that someone had made Frankie this upset. Frankie was almost always happy and smiling. Whatever had happened had to have been bad.

And then there was the tweet that mentioned him. ‘ _Confusion with Zach_ ’ kept repeating on a loop in his head and making his chest ache. He knew their relationship had had some bumps, but he didn’t think he was confusing him.

He pushed the heels of his palms into his eyes until all he could see was an array of colors, then forced himself out of bed and headed to the kitchen. He saw AJ pouring himself a cup of coffee and leaned against the door frame.

“Did you see them?” Zach asked.

AJ looked up at him and nodded. “Yea.”

He sat down at the table and put his head in his hand. “What do I do?”

AJ sighed and sat down across from him. “Look, I don’t know what happened last night. But from the texts I got from Lauren, it wasn’t anything good. You got in a stupid fight with your husband. But now he’s upset about something else. I think you should talk to him.”

Zach drew patterns into the table with the pad of his finger. “I don’t know what to say. Part of the reason he’s upset is because of me. I just...I don’t know. I don’t know.”

AJ put his coffee cup down and looked at him. “Why don’t you go home and try, then? He gave you an opportunity to fix things by calling you out. Take it.”

Zach rubbed his hand roughly down his face. He sighed, shaking his head. “I need to pick up the guys from the airport. I need to think.”

**

Zach felt nervous as his phone chimed with another tweet a few hours later. He opened it up to read the full thing and tried to stop his hands from shaking.

**@FrankieJGrande**

_Scrolling through my timeline I’m so happy to have all ur support! U are giving me what I need to shine brightly today & channel the light! [glitter emoji]_

Zach must’ve gotten at least a few hundred more mentions from Frankie’s fans. Some were sending him hate because Frankie had mentioned him earlier as a source of confusion, while others were asking him to be there for Frankie while he was so upset. None of them knew the true extent of their relationship, but they all knew that Zach was at least something to Frankie.

He bit his lip and spent the next ten minutes trying to compose a tweet that would encompass how he felt. He wasn’t even completely sure he was making sense, but he felt like he had to say something, anything, that might make a difference.

**@ranceypants**

_We share a bond, were an isotope. It’s a special bond that no one knos about but us its rare and unprecedented nD I wouldn’t change a thing [sparkly heart emoji]_

**@ranceypants**

_Ok I don’t think I paid attention in chemistry_

**

Zach pushed some lobster shells around his plate, not really paying attention to the performance going on around him. He’d only agreed to go to Queen Of The Night because his friend had wanted to go for his birthday, and Lauren had said she could get them in. Things had been awkward when they’d first met up with Lauren, because Zach wasn’t sure if she was mad at him. But she’d just given him a smile, linked arms with AJ, and brought them with her to the show.

It wasn’t a bad show. It was actually kind of cool. But Zach would rather be watching Frankie put on some bogus German accent than sitting here eating lobster and watching people swinging from the ceiling.

Lauren made AJ switch seats with her so she could talk to Zach. He felt even more nervous about talking to Lauren. She’d known Frankie for a long time. If he said something stupid, she could probably convince Frankie to divorce him in a heartbeat.

She stared at him for a moment or two until he felt like he was going to jump out of his seat.

“How are you?” she asked, taking him by surprise.

He blinked at her, waiting for her to start yelling at him, but it never came. “Uh...I don’t know.”

She nodded. “Have you talked to him yet?”

He shrugged. “We tweeted earlier about the Grammy’s. That was it. I don’t really know what to say. I’m still mad at him for our fight, but...I really want to punch that douchebag in the face for whatever he did to make Frankie that upset.”

That got a smile out of her. He suspected she felt the same way about Michael. “Can I make a suggestion?” He nodded, taking a sip of his drink. “Go talk to him. Be there for him. You can be mad at him after that. He really needs you right now. He’s really scared of losing you for good.”

Zach put his cup down and mulled over what she said. “He didn’t seem too worried about losing me last night.”

“He was upset. He hadn’t even considered that you wouldn’t be at his last show. I’m not defending him throwing Michael in your face, because that was really dumb. But I think he learned his lesson this morning.” She put her hand on his arm. “He loves you, you know.”

Zach inhaled sharply. He and Frankie have been saying they loved each other for weeks, but they’d yet to discuss that being anything more than what they’d said at the beginning.

“Is that enough, though?” he asked.

She smiled sympathetically at him. “That’s something only you can decide.”

**

Zach shivered outside the theatre, waiting with Lauren and AJ for Doug to let them in. He felt anxious about seeing Frankie. That feeling was amplified by all the fans waiting outside that were calling his name. It was so weird having people know who he is, but he’d been in pictures and videos with Frankie more than enough over the last month for people to be able to recognize him. 

He was grateful when Doug opened the stage door and let them inside. Lauren went off with Doug to get Frankie, while Zach and AJ stayed just inside on opposite ends of the room. AJ was going to record Zach surprising Frankie on his phone. Zach stayed behind one of the walls where Frankie wouldn’t be able to see him.

He heard Frankie and Lauren talking from down the hall and took a deep breath. He peaked around the corner, saw Frankie looking at Lauren as they walked, and he waited until the crossed the doorway before jumping out from where he was hiding. Frankie’s jaw dropped in surprise, and Zach took the opportunity to pull Frankie into a hug.

“Oh my god, you’re _here_ ,” Frankie said in disbelief, his arms wrapping around Zach’s waist. He buried his face in Zach’s neck, whining softly while trying to make sure Zach couldn’t leave his arms.

He giggled, squeezing him tightly. He heard Lauren telling Frankie that Zach had named his lobster after him and laughed at her, his face turning a little red. He turned his attention back to Frankie as Lauren left the building and AJ followed behind not long after.

Frankie felt tears leaking out of his eyes and dropping onto Zach’s neck. He sniffled and pressed his face into Zach’s neck harder. Zach held tight, rubbing Frankie’s back soothingly.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Frankie whispered, his voice cracking.

Zach dropped his forehead down onto Frankie’s shoulder and inhaling slowly. He felt the tightness in his chest loosen just a little bit having Frankie in his arms again. "Frankie," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry," Frankie repeated. "I messed up. I shouldn't have...I missed you. I'm sorry."

Zach shook his head and moved to crash their lips together, backing Frankie into a wall. Frankie gasped into the kiss and grabbed fistfuls of Zach's jacket. It was desperate and needy and messy, and exactly what they both needed.

Zach was about two seconds away from undoing Frankie's pants when he heard laughter to his left.

They broke apart to see Lauren leaning against the door frame with a smirk on her face.

"Glad to see you two kissed and made up," she teased. Frankie groaned, letting his head fall back against the wall. "Your fans are waiting."

He took a deep breath and started to move away from where he was trapped between Zach and the wall. Zach stopped him, pressing back into him.

"I need a minute," he said to Frankie. Frankie felt Zach hard against his hip and grinned, leaning in to nuzzle Zach's neck. "Frankie, that's not helping," he whined.

"I promise I will sign and take pictures as fast as humanly possible so we can go home and I can _help_ you." Frankie bit his lip and looked Zach in the eye nervously. "You are coming home with me...right?"

Zach sighed and cupped Frankie's face in his hands, bringing him closer to kiss him softly. "Yea...I'm coming home."

Frankie pulled Zach into a tight hug, pressing his lips against Zach’s neck. After a moment, he let go of Zach and smiled at him. “C’mon,” he said, tugging on Zach’s arm and leading him towards the door.

Zach felt overwhelmed all over again as they stepped outside into the cold air, Frankie’s fans screaming excitedly as they saw Frankie appear. He followed Frankie, Lauren, and Doug out to the line of fans, then veered off to the left so he wouldn’t get in the way.

Frankie panicked a little as Zach separated from him, replaying the moment when Zach had walked out the door yesterday after their fight.

“Zach, where are you going?” he called anxiously. "Zach, come back here."

Zach saw the look on Frankie’s face and quickly made his way back to his side, putting a hand on his lower back. “I’m right here,” he mumbled. “Just didn’t want to get in the way.”

“You’re never in the way.” He pressed a kiss against his cheek. “Just go stand with Lauren and Doug and AJ and I’ll try to do this as fast as possible.”

“Take your time,” Zach said, squeezing his hip and heading over to where AJ was standing with Lauren and Doug.

He heard his name being called as he listened to Doug tell a story about something Frankie had done during intermission. His eyes kept drifting over to Frankie and smiling. 

Yesterday he'd felt as down as he had in a while, and he'd thought that they were done for good. But when he'd woken up to Frankie's tweets, clearly upset over something, he was so immediately concerned and wanted to protect him. That's what told him more than anything that he wanted to be Frankie's husband, no matter what bad things they had been through.

He was in the middle of telling Doug about Queen Of The Night when Frankie's arms wrapped around his waist.

"Hi I missed you," Frankie said, burying himself under Zach's arm. 

Zach giggled. "I know you're not done with your fans yet."

Frankie shook his head. "Not yet. I just wanted a hug."

Zach wrapped an arm around Frankie's shoulders and smiled at him. "You can have a hug."

Frankie smiled back at him, hugging him tightly. "Also, some fans want you to join us in pictures."

"This is about you, not me," Zach protested. 

"Please?" Frankie asked. "My friends take pictures with my fans all the time. They want you in pictures. I want you in pictures." He pouted at Zach and widened his eyes.

He giggled and conceded. "Fine. Let's go."

Frankie took his hand and lead him off to some fans, and it felt vaguely like he was being thrown into the lion's den.

He put on a smile and stood with Frankie and a fan as they got a picture taken. Frankie leaned into him with his arm wrapped around Zach's waist.

"I'm so glad you came tonight," Frankie whispered in his ear. "It was the best surprise. You made my night."

He was met with Zach's bright smile and his signature giggle, and he held Zach tighter, smiling for the camera.

He checked the picture to make sure it was good and showed it to Zach. "We're so cute."

He gave the phone back to the fan it belonged to and moved along to the next one.

Eventually Zach went back to AJ, Lauren, and Doug and let Frankie do his thing, watching proudly from a distance as all these people told Frankie how much they loved him.

Frankie kept coming back over to them every once in a while to put his arms around Zach and talk to them for a minute or two. 

He wrapped his arms around Zach's neck, hugging him tightly where they stood. He moved his head to bite Zach's ear, and Zach laughed loudly and broke the hug. 

"Frankie!" he squealed. "Oh my god."

Frankie winked at him, then forced Zach to take pictures with him on their phones. 

"Not much longer. I promise."

**

**@ranceypants**

_#Zankie pic.twitter.com/1mdUR06D15_

**@FrankieJGrande**

_“@ranceypants #Zankie pic.twitter.com/1mdUR06D15” all is right in the world again. [happy emoji]_

**@FrankieJGrande**

_Zach surprised me at the stage door tonight and it was the happiest I’ve been in a long while. #zankieaf instagram.com/p/x8SvNositA/_

**

Zach felt like he was floating on air as they made their way back home. He might’ve started skipping down the sidewalk at one point, making Frankie laugh at him. 

When they got home, Zach forced himself to let Tiger out before he found Frankie in the bedroom. Frankie had just taken his jacket and his shirt off and locked eyes with Zach. Frankie let Zach make the first move, wanting to be sure that this was what Zach wanted. He was pleased when Zach crossed the room and kissed him eagerly, licking into his mouth immediately.

He felt Frankie’s hands beneath his shirt, clinging to him and leading him down to the bed. Zach stopped him and leaned back to look in Frankie’s eyes.

“What happened last night?” he asked. “Did you...did you guys--”

“No!” Frankie said quickly. He took a deep breath and sat down on the bed, waiting a moment before he spoke. “He tried to kiss me. I didn’t let him. He started talking about how I should try to get him a job on Broadway so we could be together.”

Zach stiffened. “I told you I didn’t like that guy.”

“I know that. I know. I should’ve listened to you.” He stood back up and rubbed his hands up and down Zach’s arms. “You were right, okay? He was just using me. You were right.”

“I didn’t want to be. Now I just want to kick his fucking ass.”

Frankie gave him a weak smile. “Be my guest.” He pulled Zach closer to him, leaning their foreheads together. “I didn’t even consider helping him for a second. I don’t need people in my life that only want me for what I can get them.”

Zach bit his lip. “Am I lumped in with that category, or…?”

“You’re the first person in a long time that hasn’t been in that category.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “Can you forgive me for last night?”

Zach leaned into him. “Depends. Can you forgive me for saying I wanted the experiment to end?”

“Forgiven.”

Zach smiled and kissed him, laying him down on the bed.

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_It’s day 35 of our marriage, week 5. I don’t know. It’s weird, like, we seem to get in fights really quickly, but then we end up making up really quickly too. It’s like everything is sped up during all of this. Which I guess it is. I could do without the fighting, though. I’m not a fan._

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_We have a house visit with Dr. Pepper today. The visits with the experts have usually gone pretty well for us, so I’m hoping for the same with this one. Things are still a little awkward with Zach after our fight the other day, but we’re trying to get past that. It’s going to take more than one night of make up sex and apologies for us to go back to our happy place, but...we both know we only have a week left of this experiment, and we don’t want to spend that reflecting on negativity. So we’re trying._

**

Zach giggled, his hands on Frankie’s hips as Frankie sucked on his neck. “Frankie! C’mon, Dr. Pepper’s gonna be here any minute.” He felt chills rushing down his spine as Frankie’s teeth scraped against his skin, and he was grateful he was trapped between the kitchen island and Frankie’s body to hold himself up.

Frankie rubbed Zach through his pants and grinned against Zach’s neck as he felt him getting hard. “Why did we schedule this for so early in the morning? We could still be in bed right now,” he whispered, moving up to bite Zach’s ear.

Zach groaned softly, leaning into Frankie’s touch. “You’ve got a bunch of shit to do today, that’s why. No time for experts or husbands the rest of the weekend.”

“I always have time for husbands. Husband time is my favorite.” He pressed a kiss against Zach’s lips, smiling as Zach giggled into his mouth.

**

“Hi guys. How are you?” Dr. Pepper asked as they let her into the apartment. “Nice to see you.”

“Nice to see you too.” They took turns hugging her and Zach offered to take her coat, hanging it beside the door.

They brought her around the apartment, letting her see whatever she wanted. She walked around, opening up cabinets and checking out their fridge.

“So not _a lot_ of food in the fridge, but I can tell you at least have some meals here,” she commented.

Frankie nodded. “We do. We usually go grocery shopping Saturday mornings, but we didn’t have the time today with this visit and then me working after this, so we’re going tomorrow morning instead.”

“That’s good. You’ve got a routine going. I like these pictures you’ve got on the fridge, too.”

There was a picturing hanging on the freezer they took together on New Year’s Eve with their friends, as well as a couple from Christmas by themselves and with Ari. Zach smiled as he remembered the good moments they’d had together over the last 5 weeks.

Dr. Pepper followed them to their bedroom, commenting on Zach’s framed picture of them sitting on the dresser. 

After a little more analysis of their apartment, she followed them back to the living room and sat across from them, asking how the last few weeks have been going.

Zach cleared his throat. “I think I’d say that it’s been nothing short of a roller coaster. We’ve had some high highs and some low lows. It’s been hard. But I also think it's felt pretty easy sometimes.”

“Yea I think it’s hard for us because we’ve both been single for so long. And me in particular, I can be really stubborn when we’re fighting, and I think I just make it harder for us to communicate sometimes.” Frankie reached over to hold his hand, giving him a small smile.

“We both do it,” Zach said, squeezing Frankie’s hand.

Dr. Pepper smiled at them. “It’s definitely going to be hard, especially given the circumstances that you met and got married. You’ve only known each other for 5 weeks. What I see here, though, is a commitment to each other, and to communicating with each other. It might seem difficult at times, and you might need time to cool off before communicating, but the point is that you do. You work through it. And despite any arguments that have arisen in the past, you’re still sitting here holding hands and showing me that you’re a team. You’ve created a home here, and you’ve put effort into this relationship. That’s something to be proud of.”

**

Zach poured Frankie a cup of coffee and handed it to him as Frankie jumped up to sit on the kitchen island.

“Thank you, my darling.” He took a sip and put the mug down beside his leg. “So how do you think the visit with Dr. Pepper went?”

Zach shrugged. “I think it went well.”

Frankie nodded. He stared at Zach for a moment and adjusted his position on the island. “I feel like there’s still some tension between us.”

He sighed, leaning his back against the fridge. “I mean...yea, there’s still some tension. It’s just...I don’t know. It’s harder when we don’t have that much time to work through everything because you have to go to work all day. I’m not, like, still mad or anything. I just haven’t completely worked past our fight.”

“Is there anything I can do to help that?”

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I think I just need us to spend more time together.”

Frankie reached his hand out to Zach. Zach took his hand and let himself be pulled closer to Frankie. “This is a really busy weekend and a really busy week coming up for me. But I promise, I will spend as much time with you as I can. I want this to work. I want us to get back to how we felt on our wedding day. I don’t want this to be just a six week experiment.”

Zach met his look and smiled a little. “Neither do I.”

**

Frankie kicked his shoes off by the door as he got home at the end of the night, hung his keys by the door, and made his way to the bedroom. He looked a little surprised as he noticed Zach already in bed, having expected him to still be out with his friends, but he smiled and crawled into bed behind him. 

“What’s up, Frankie?”

Frankie wrapped his arm around Zach’s waist, smiling as Zach reached back to squeeze Frankie’s thigh. He kissed Zach’s neck, making him giggle. He let go of Zach and leaned into the pillows a bit, playing with the bracelet on his wrist.

“I, like, am kinda in love with you, it’s weird,” Frankie said quietly.

“Are you?” Zach asked as he started to turn around, excitement evident in his voice.

“Yea, a little bit.”

“I’m in love with you,” Zach said confidently, looking Frankie in the eye.

“Like a little bit.”

“I’m in love with you,” Zach repeated. “Without a doubt.”

They sat in silence for a moment, the weight of their confessions heavy in the air. Frankie twisted the bracelet around his wrist a few more times and then dropped his wrist and looked at Zach again.

“Okay, it’s not even a little bit. I’m, like, completely in love with you. It’s kind of scary how in love with you I am.”

Zach smiled bigger than Frankie had seen in a while, and it felt like it did when they had first met and everything was new and exciting. When Zach pulled him closer and kissed him, the only thing he could think about was his tweet from the day before when Zach had surprised him at the theatre.

All was right in the world again.


	15. Last Chance For Romance

Zach yawned, snuggling back into Frankie’s arms as he woke from a deep sleep. He felt Frankie’s dick pressing against his ass and giggled.

“Didn’t get enough last night?” he teased.

Frankie buried his face in the back of Zach’s neck, kissing him gently. “An entire lifetime would never be enough.” Zach smiled happily. Frankie sighed softly. “I’m exhausted.”

“That’s cause we were at the Rock of Ages party until late and then came home and fucked for like three hours.”

Frankie grinned. “I’m glad you came to the party last night. You and your friends. It was fun.”

Zach rolled over to face him, smiling at him. “Yea it was. I’m glad I went too.”

Frankie stared at him for a couple minutes and then lifted his hand to run through Zach’s messy hair. “Last week of the experiment,” he whispered.

Zach brought his hand up to rest on Frankie’s wrist, stroking his skin with his thumb. “Just a few more days. That’s crazy.”

“Our love is crazy,” Frankie said with a laugh. Zach giggled and nodded. He couldn’t stop the smile on his face as Frankie leaned in to kiss him, feeling the butterflies in his stomach go crazy as happiness flooded through him.

**

“Gotta go!” Frankie said, quickly slipping his jacket on. Zach pouted, having just walked into the apartment.

“Damn, I was hoping to see you for more than five seconds after work. We ran late.”

Frankie smiled, leaning in to kiss him. “Sorry, love. I’ve gotta get to 54 Below to run through everything again before the show tonight.”

Zach wrapped his arms around Frankie’s waist as he tried to get past him to the door. “I’m proud of you. I can’t wait to see the show tonight. AJ and I will be there right around 7.”

Frankie’s arms wound around his neck and he kissed Zach once more. “Can’t wait. I love you.”

“I love you too,” Zach said with a grin. “Go kick ass. I’ll see you soon.”

**

Zach stopped outside 54 Below to take a picture of the sign with Frankie’s picture on it advertising Livin’ La Vida Grande. He and AJ made their way inside and met up with Joan and Lauren and some of Frankie’s other friends, sitting with them at their booth in the back of the room. Zach kept scanning the room, proud of how many people were there for Frankie. He laughed as Joan kept buying him shots, feeling himself loosen up and feel at ease the more he drank.

When Frankie showed up onstage, he got every bit of Zach’s attention. Zach kept cheering, yelling, clapping, and enjoying every song Frankie performed. While Frankie was absorbed in his performances, he kept catching Zach’s eye every once in a while and singing to him and winking, making Zach only cheer louder.

It was about two thirds of the way through the show when Frankie called Zach up onstage with him. Zach stood from the booth, put the front of his shirt over his face, and made his way blindly towards the stage, slapping the surface of tables along the way.

“Come here, Zach,” Frankie said into the microphone. “Oh, your shirt’s already off. Good, I don’t even need to ask you.”

He stepped forward, reaching his hands out to help Zach onto the stage as everyone chorused out an ‘awwww!’

“Yo, did we plan this?” Zach asked as Frankie reached up, pulling the shirt off his face.

“Hi,” Frankie said cutely. Zach giggled as they wrapped their arms around each other, hugging happily. When they pulled back a few seconds later, Frankie’s hands slid to cup Zach’s face so he could look him in the eye. “Are you having fun?”

“I’m having a great time. I’m having a great time.” 

Frankie smiled, noticing that Zach was more than a little drunk, and pulled the stool closer, motioning for Zach to sit down.

“He’s better than Justin!” a fan called out.

Frankie raised his eyebrows and nodded. 

“Woah woah woah,” Zach said. 

He lifted Zach’s shirt up to show his abs. “Well…” he trailed off, sending his fans a pointed look as he pointed at Zach’s stomach. Zach took Frankie’s cue and removed his shirt. “See? Oh, there we go.” He slid his hand to the back of Zach’s neck as Zach sat down on the stool.

“It is Topless Tuesday, right?” 

“It is Topless Tuesday, yay!”

“So I gotta play my part,” Zach said, putting his shirt down on his leg.

“Yea you do. Um, so--”

“Take your pants off,” Joan called from the back of the room.

Frankie laughed with a shocked expression on his face. “Mom just told you to take your pants off. Don’t do that, cause he will.” He wrapped his arm completely around Zach’s neck, leaning against him. 

He went back and forth with Zach, chatting about his intro that lead to Zach coming up onstage. He rested his elbow on Zach’s shoulder, gathering his thoughts.

“But, um...we’ve had our roller coaster. We had good and we had bad, we had ugly.”

Zach agreed. “We had good, we had bad, we had ugly. We had ugly.”

“There’s been a lot of, like, zankie drama and zankie...bullshit.”

“Oh my god,” Zach groaned. 

“Really tough. But like...I mean…” Zach put his arm around him, sensing the fact that they both needed the contact to comfort them, and ran his hand up and down Frankie’s back. “It wasn’t always, it wasn’t, it wasn’t always _great_ , but...it’s great now,” he finished, his hand moving to the side of Zach’s head and gently pushing it to rest on Frankie’s shoulder, ruffling Zach’s hair a little.

“It was always great, though,” Zach cut in. “It was always great.”

“Yea it was,” Frankie conceded. “But we fought, we had our downs.”

“Cause we need drama in our life, you know?”

Frankie knew it was time to start the song and cut in. “Honestly, Zach, I don’t wanna talk.” The piano played behind them, and Zach started to remove his hand from Frankie’s back, folding his hands in his lap.

“Yea I don’t want to talk either. I’ll sit here and watch.”

“About things we’ve gone through,” Frankie sang. Zach fluttered his eyelashes at Frankie, putting all his focus on him. “Cause it’s hurting me.”

Zach laughed. “Stahhhhp.”

“Now it’s history.” Zach pretended to wipe tears away. “I’ve played all my cards, and that’s what you’ve done too.”

“Why?” Zach mouthed dramatically. “Why?” 

Frankie smiled, looking down at Zach’s lips. “But I was a fool, playing by the rules...the winner takes it all.” Zach’s hands drifted across his body, and Frankie could feel the chemistry between them as they kept their eyes locked. “The loser has to fall. Beside the victory, that’s my destiny.”

Zach laughed, letting Frankie move his head to his neck, his nose brushing against Frankie’s ear.

“I was in your arms,” Frankie sang, moving Zach’s arm so it was wrapped across his chest. Zach moved his other arm around Frankie’s shoulders so he could be holding Frankie.

“You were in more than that!” Zach said. 

Frankie tried holding back a smile, letting his hand drop to Zach’s leg and rub his thigh. “Thinking I belonged there. But I was a fool, playing by the rules. I apologize,” he sang, resting his head against Zach’s. “If this makes you feel bad.”

Zach untangled their bodies, trying to get a better look at Frankie. “Not really.” Frankie reached his hand up to Zach’s ear, playing with it as he sang.

“Seeing me so tense.” He dragged his hand across Zach’s cheek and beneath his chin, then back to his microphone.

“I still accept it,” Zach said.

“No self confidence,” he sang, their faces staying close together.

“I love you.”

Frankie broke eye contact, looking at his audience as Zach’s hand drifted across his stomach. “The jury will decide the likes of me abide.”

“And you’re perfect,” Zach cut in. 

Frankie reached around to press Zach’s head back into his neck. “Spectators of the show always staying low.” Frankie’s fingers slid down Zach’s throat as Zach mumbled something into his neck and kissed his skin, making him smile.

“Werk!” Zach shouted as Frankie turned to face him again.

“The game is on again.”

“It’s only a game,” Zach said. 

“A lover or a friend?” Frankie asked, his finger sliding down Zach’s cheek and across his bottom lip.

Zach felt mesmerized, distracted by Frankie’s touch and his presence. “Or both?” he asked at the last second. Frankie smiled widely and Zach once again found his face buried in Frankie’s neck with Frankie’s hand in his hair.

“A big thing or a small? The winner takes it all.” There was a pause, Frankie running his fingers over Zach’s ear before continuing. “But honestly, I don’t want to talk.”

“I don’t either.”

“If it makes you feel sad.”

“It makes me feel better.” Frankie brought his lips into his mouth, trying not to smile, but Zach was just too cute and he let his smile go and brought their faces closer together, messing up Zach’s hair with his hand. 

“Because I was a fool.”

“You were a fool and so was I!” Zach shouted. 

Frankie smiled fondly at him. “Playing by the rules. Why?”

Zach shook his head. “I don’t play by the rules.”

“I apologize,” he sang, pulling Zach a little closer.

“It’s okay, I-I forgive you,” Zach interrupted, looking Frankie in the eye.

“If this makes you feel sad,” Frankie sang, pointing at his own chest.

“No, it doesn’t.”

“No? Seeing me so tense? You okay?”

“No, I appreciate it, I do.”

“No self confidence.” He grabbed Zach’s chin in his hand. “But Zach--”

“What, Rose?” Zach said, eyes falling on Frankie’s lips.

“--You’ll see. The winner takes it all,” he sang, moving to face the audience as the music picked up pace. Zach was clapping along to the beat behind him with a smile. “The winner takes it all. The game is on again,” he sang, wrapping his arm around Zach’s waist. “A lover or a friend?” He moved his arm around Zach’s shoulders, resting his hand on the side of Zach’s head. He pointed to his lips. “Kiss me.”

Zach giggled, leaning forward and pressing their lips together. Frankie kept it brief, despite wanting it to continue as his fans and his friends and family cheered them on in front of them.

“But it’s a lot more than that,” Zach said as they broke apart.

“A big thing or a small? The winner takes it alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll,” he sang out.

“Weeeeeeerk!” Zach yelled, clapping proudly. “Werk!”

Frankie focused on his breathing as he brought the microphone back to his lips. “The winner takes it………...aaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllll.”

Zach clapped rapidly along with everyone in the room as Frankie leaned his head back to catch his breath. “Weeeeeeeerk!” Zach repeated, standing up off the stool. “Werk!”

Frankie grinned, wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug. Zach squeezed him tightly, then moved a hand up cup Frankie’s ear. 

“You’re fucking amazing, Frankie,” he whispered. “That was so fucking amazing and I’m so proud of you and I’m so glad I’m married to you. I fucking love you so much. I can’t wait till we go home so you can fuck me. Watching you sing turns me on. I love you. Marry me.”

Frankie gave a salacious look to the room as Zach whispered in his ear and bit down on his earlobe before backing up and picking his shirt up off the ground.

“The answer is yes,” Frankie teased into the microphone. Zach laughed, sitting on the edge of the stool while he tried to untangle his shirt. “I love you,” he mumbled into Zach’s temple, pressing a kiss against his head.

“I love you,” Zach said. He tilted his head up and pulled Frankie closer. Frankie smiled, leaning down to kiss him slowly. Zach sighed against his lips and opened his mouth to Frankie, letting his tongue dip inside. They heard catcalls from several people and giggled, reluctantly pulling away.

“Alright, go put your clothes on and go somewhere,” Frankie said into the microphone, slapping Zach’s ass gently. “Or keep ‘em off. I don’t think anyone minds.”

**

Zach clung to Frankie after the show ended, feeling more drunk than he’d been in a while. Frankie rubbed his back and pressed kisses into Zach’s neck, holding him close.

“You’re so cuddly when you’re drunk.”

“Drunk on you,” Zach retorted. Frankie laughed. When they pulled back from the hug, Frankie took Zach’s face in his hands and tilted his head backwards, making Zach giggle.

“You’re so drunk.”

“Blame your mom,” Zach said, moving his head back up to face Frankie. “Kept buyin’ me t’quila.”

Frankie grinned, pulling Zach closer to press their hips together. “You know, I’ve heard tequila’s supposed to make you want to take all your clothes off.”

Zach gripped Frankie’s sides in his hands, trying to hold himself steady. “Definitely wanna take all my clothes off.” He leaned his forehead against Frankie’s and brushed their noses together. “Want you to fuck me.”

Frankie took a deep breath and broke eye contact with Zach, sweeping his eyes across the room. “I’ve gotta go meet some fans. Why don’t you have mom get you some water, and I’ll come find you in a little bit?”

Zach pouted, putting his face back in Frankie’s neck. “Don’t leave me,” he whined. “I love you.”

Frankie felt his heart melt and squeezed the back of Zach’s neck reassuringly. “I love you too. But I have to meet the fans. I’ll check on you soon, okay? Just go get some water and sit down.” Zach lifted his head to look at him and Frankie smiled, leaning in to kiss him for a minute. “I love you,” he repeated.

Zach smiled back at him. “I’m gonna get some water,” he said, like it was his idea. 

Frankie gave him one more short hug and sent him off, then returned to meeting fans and taking pictures with them. 

“So it’s true that Zach’s your boyfriend?” one fan asked.

Frankie smirked as he signed a picture for her. “Zach...y’all will find out soon, okay? Promise.”

She laughed a little. “Okay, but Twitter’s already full of pictures and videos of you guys from tonight. I think kissing onstage confirmed to everyone that you guys are together.”

He winked at her. “My lips are sealed. You’ll find out soon enough,” he teased.

**

Frankie nuzzled his face into the back of Zach’s neck, sighing in content as their bodies molded together in their bed.

“Tonight was fun,” he mumbled.

Zach hummed. “Are we talking about your show or all the sex we just had?”

Frankie rolled his eyes playfully, laughing a little. “Both. Everything was perfect. I’m so happy I got to share this with you.”

Zach smiled, resting his hand on Frankie’s arm around his waist. “Me too. I’m so proud of you. You were amazing. You should be, like, on tour.”

“It’s a possibility,” Frankie said after a pause. “Having tonight and tomorrow go perfect would help. It’s something I’ve been thinking about...maybe for this summer.”

Zach shifted to look at him, noticing the look on Frankie’s face that seemed to be begging for approval. “That sounds amazing,” he said. “I want to be front row the whole tour.”

Frankie smiled brightly. “I would love that.”

Zach turned back around so Frankie could spoon him properly and they fell back into silence. Frankie caressed Zach’s bare stomach lightly, letting his eyes close and relax. He pressed his lips against Zach’s shoulder.

“We’ve got our meeting with Greg tomorrow,” Frankie mentioned a few minutes later. The spiritual advisor was the last one of the experts they had a meeting with, scheduled for early in the afternoon.

Zach nodded. “What do you think he’ll talk to us about?”

“Our romantic connection, most likely. And how to keep things the way they are between us.”

“Sounds good to me,” Zach said sleepily.

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_Frankie and I have been following this pattern of having a lot of really good days and then being hit with one or two really really bad days that make us doubt things. Right now we’re in our good days, and I want to stay that way. I know it’s unrealistic to expect no bad days at all, but I’d like them not to be as bad as they’ve been. I’d love to stay as happy as we are right now and stay feeling as...in love as I feel. I love this feeling. I love being in love with my husband. It’s a good feeling._

**

“Nice to see you, Greg,” Frankie greeted.

“Nice to see you guys again.” He hugged them both, then invited them to sit on the couch in his office. “Five weeks ago...you didn’t know each other. Here you are. What I’m gonna ask you to do is turn towards each other, look into each other’s eyes, and what I want you to do is just focus on thinking as hard as we can about what you’ve learned to this point from this process.”

Zach and Frankie turned towards each other, keeping their hands clasped together, and looked into each other’s eyes. Zach giggled nervously, always feeling undone by Frankie looking at him so seriously. Frankie squeezed his hand, smiling at him happily. They spent a few minutes like that, both thinking about all the good moments they’d had over the last 5 weeks since they got married. Frankie’s thumb brushed against the back of his hand, and Zach could only think about how much he loved Frankie.

“What was that like?” Greg asked.

Frankie smiled, keeping his eyes on Zach. “It made me think about the first time I met you. I couldn’t take my eyes off you during the entire wedding. I was afraid if I looked away, you’d disappear and I’d realize it was all my imagination or something.”

Zach giggled. “I couldn’t believe you were real. I just wanted to impress you all night so you didn’t regret doing all this.”

Greg smiled at them. “At the end of the week, you will be at the end of this six week experiment. How are you feeling?”

Zach bit his lip. “Nervous.”

“Why nervous?”

He cleared his throat. “I...these last five weeks...we’ve had our ups and our downs. We’ve had some pretty shitty moments, you know? And no matter how good things are right now and how much I love Frankie, I guess I’m just always afraid that it won’t be enough and that he’ll decide to leave.”

Frankie opened his mouth to speak, but Greg cut him off. “Why do you think that fear is there? Is it something that Frankie is or isn’t doing, or is it something with yourself?”

Zach shook his head. “It’s not Frankie. I think Frankie could tell me he loves me every minute of every day and I’d still be afraid he’d leave. I’ve just...I don’t know, I’ve never had someone stick around or want to stick around outside of the _one_ long term relationship I’d been in before. And maybe I was to blame for some of that, because I would always push people away before they got too close. I’m afraid of pushing him away too.”

Frankie tightened his grip on Zach’s hand. “I’m scared too,” he said soothingly. “Every argument we get into, I’m afraid it’ll be the one to push you away for good. But we keep coming back. We keep fighting for us. I’m not going anywhere. You’ve become this huge part of my life, I’ve fallen in love with you, and no matter what struggles we’ve gone through, we’re still here.”

“Your first assignment,” Greg said a few moments later. “Is a physical gift. If there’s something that you’ve been wanting to say to one another that would be hard to say in words. A little note, whatever you want to give, that would convey something important to you. As well, I want you to decide together as a couple on an experience that you’re going to have together that you think would bring you some happiness.”

They spoke for a few more minutes, and then they were hugging goodbye. Before they parted, Greg left them with some final words.

“Commitment is the moral force that we have that can allow us to overcome the struggles of strain and struggles and tension and fights. We chose you two to be together for a reason. There’s no such thing as a perfect person or a perfect relationship. As long as you remember that and stay committed to each other and what you have with each other, you can have something that lasts a very long time.”

**

The rest of their day went much the same as the day before. Zach met up with Frankie’s friends and his mom at 54 Below and he watched Frankie perform as amazingly as he did the first time. Zach decided to stay sober tonight, since he still felt a little nauseous from last night’s tequila shots. He felt much more subdued this time around, but he still enjoyed the show just as much. 

By night’s end, Frankie was surrounded by fans wanting to talk to him and take pictures. After meeting with one last fan, he skipped over to Zach’s side, hugging him tightly. 

“I love you.”

Zach smiled. “I love you more.”

**

Zach giggled drunkenly as Frankie danced over his body, Break Free blaring around them. He had his phone in one hand, Snapchat opened up, and started recording Frankie as Zach reached up and put a hand over his dick, then dropped it back down. Frankie was looking down at him with a seductive look as he moved his body to the beat, then moved his leg so he was grinding over Zach’s face.

A few minutes later, when Frankie had gotten down on Zach’s level and kissed him messily, Zach kept smiling at Frankie, holding him close.

“I say we kick everyone out soon so I can take you to bed and fuck you for the rest of the night,” Frankie said against his mouth.

“Please,” Zach whispered.

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_So decision day is around the corner, and we’re pretty much down to the wire now. This is really scary. Falling in love with someone is scary. What do you do if you fall in love with someone and they leave you? You’re fucked. Zach says he’s in love with me, and I believe him, but...I don’t know. I feel like when we fight, he’s very quick to shut down, and I’m just praying that the next couple days stay as wonderful as the last few have been and that he decides this is what he wants for the rest of his life._

**

“Oh love of my life,” Frankie called, entering the warm apartment and taking off his winter clothes. “Where are you?”

He heard Zach laugh from the other room. “In here, _love of my life,_ ” he teased.

“Come here, please! And quit being fresh!”

Zach giggled, coming into the main room. “Maybe I’m looking to be spanked, Daddy,” he said, imitating Frankie’s Marilyn Monroe impersonation.

Frankie grinned. “I hope they show every single moment you talk about getting spanked or calling me daddy on the show. Your poor family is going to see you in a whole new light.”

Zach rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright. What was it you wanted?”

“I have my gift for you,” Frankie said with a smile.

Zach smiled. “Yea? Let me see.”

Frankie handed Zach a bag to open. Zach took it, opening it up and pulling out the gift inside. 

“Frankie,” Zach said softly. It was a canvas of one of their wedding pictures, bright smiles on their faces as they faced their families, hands clasped between them. They’d had a lot of happy moments over the last six weeks, but this picture was a symbol of their journey together. They looked so happy and excited for what was to come.

Frankie stepped forward, his hands coming up to rest on the sides of the canvas. Zach released it into his hands, letting Frankie take it. Frankie held it in one hand and grabbed Zach’s hand with the other, bringing him over to the couch. Zach watched as Frankie put the canvas down on the couch, then reached up to take down one of the canvases already on the wall above the couch. He grabbed their wedding canvas and placed it in the empty space, right in the middle of all the other canvases.

Zach stared at the new wall decoration, surrounded by Frankie’s Shine Bright Like A Frankie canvases that had adorned the wall when he’d moved in. He looked at Frankie questioningly.

Frankie took his hand, smiling at him. “Marrying you was the best decision I have ever made. You make me shine bright every day, and these six weeks have changed my life for the better. You’re an amazing man. Our negative moments have only made us stronger. I wanted this canvas in the middle of the others to show that you are the center of my world. I love you, Zach. And I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you.”

Every word hit Zach right in the heart, making him feel breathless, and he felt like a magnet was drawing him in as he stepped into Frankie’s space to kiss him, not able to help himself from showing affection to his husband.

“I love you too,” Zach mumbled against his lips. “I love you so much.”

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_Frankie’s gift means a lot to me. I’ve always known that he cares about me, but we’ve also had our troubles. This picture right in our living room will be a constant reminder to us how happy we were on our wedding day and how devoted we were to making this work through this process, and Frankie putting it right in the middle of all the other canvases to represent how he feels about our relationship...it’s really nice. It’s sweet. It means a lot to me._

**

“Okay, my turn,” Zach said. He went off to their bedroom and came back with a small gift bag. He sat next to Frankie on the couch and handed it to him.

Frankie pulled out an envelope, opening it and removing the card from inside. “Frankie,” he read. “These last six weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions, but I wouldn’t trade a single second. You’ve taught me a lot about myself through this journey, and I hope we can keep learning about ourselves and each other for many years to come. You’re a beautiful person both inside and out. Thank you for not only becoming my best friend and husband, but for becoming my partner. I love you.”

Zach smiled at him as Frankie looked up from the card, and he brushed his thumb against Frankie’s cheek as a tear escaped his eye. “You know what the best part of this is? Even though you have all your best friends, and I have all my best friends, and we’ve made so many friends over our lives, none of your friends have shared this experience that you and I have shared together. You know?”

Frankie nodded as some more tears fell out of his eyes. “We’re inextricably linked, and I love it.”

Zach tugged him closer, pulling him into a hug. “I literally, regardless of what happens, am completely in love with you no matter what the fuck happens.”

“I love you too,” Frankie said, pressing his lips against Zach’s neck. 

Zach ran his hand up and down Frankie’s back. “Open the rest of your gift,” he said after a moment.

Frankie dug back into the bag and pulled out a small box, the Tiffany’s logo written on the top. He looked up at Zach, his mouth open in awe. Zach took the box from him and opened it up, revealing a necklace inside. Frankie put his hand over his mouth as Zach lifted the necklace out of the box. 

“Zach. It’s too much.”

Zach shook his head. “Nothing’s too much. I love you, and I know you love these necklaces, so I wanted to get it for you.”

Frankie took the necklace from him with a light laugh and tried putting it over his head. When it didn’t fit, Zach reached out for it.

“Here, I’ll put it on you.” He unclasped the necklace and put it around Frankie’s neck, then reclasped the necklace.

“Thank you,” Frankie said softly. “I love it.” He kissed Zach softly, then pulled back and smiled at him brightly.

Zach held his hand, smiling back at him. “I just want to give you everything I can in life. I love putting a smile on your face. Your happiness makes me happy. That’s all I want.”

Frankie reached his free hand up to stroke the side of Zach’s face. “I love you.”

**

**Frankie Grande, 31**

_Tonight, Zach and I are going out to dinner by ourselves. We don’t usually have time to go out to dinner because I’m usually at the theatre, but now that that’s done, we’ve got the time and we’re taking this time to ourselves before Decision Day. I’m feeling optimistic about where we stand. I love Zach. Zach loves me. Everything is really really good._

**

“I wish I was coming to Africa with you,” Zach pouted from across their table at the restaurant.

Frankie reached across the space and took his hand. “So do I. But, you know, it’s only a week. And then I’ll be right back here in your arms.”

“I know. I just know how important this trip is to you, and I wish I could be a part of it.”

“It’s okay,” Frankie said gently. “That means more to me than anything. And next Africa trip, I hope you’ll be right next to me.”

“Try and stop me,” Zach teased. “On another note, your birthday’s in a few days. I know the plan is giving cupcakes to your fans, dinner at Buca Di Pepo and Mamma Mia. Is there anything else you want to do?”

He shook his head. “I just want to spend the night with you. It’ll be our last night until we make our decision. I want us to enjoy it.”

Zach smiled. “Your wish is my command.”


	16. The Big Decision

**Zach Rance, 24**

_This is a lifelong commitment. I’m nervous, but I’m excited. This has been an amazing week with Frankie. I’ve gotten to see him in his element, and it’s something that I could watch for the rest of my life. I never thought, before this process, that I would feel the way I do at the six week mark, but...Frankie makes me excited for every day we have together._

**

“It’s officially your birthday,” Zach whispered, pressing a soft kiss against Frankie’s lips and then trailing down his body. “Happy birthday, baby.”

“Zach,” Frankie sighed happily. “Honey, wait, mommy and Jon-Erik will be here any minute.”

Zach grinned up at him as he took Frankie in his hand, jerking him smoothly a few times. “Just let me take care of you real quick.”

Frankie’s eyes drifted shut at the first lick of Zach’s tongue and he relaxed back into the pillows. He loved how much Zach loved giving head. It was like a new experience every time. He wished they had the time for Zach to take as long as he wanted, but they had a maximum of five minutes before his mother and best friend showed up to celebrate Frankie’s birthday.

Zach hated their time restriction too, but he wanted Frankie to feel good, so he put his all into what he was doing, wrapping his mouth around the head of Frankie’s cock, his hand cupping his balls, and went to work. There was a focus he got while giving head that he couldn’t even get on his ADHD medication, and he thrived on it. Everything in his brain was narrowed down to how Frankie tasted on his tongue and felt pressing against the back of his throat.

Frankie couldn’t help but to thrust upward, keening at Zach’s hot wet mouth surrounding him. By the time he felt the cold metal of Zach’s wedding ring as Zach wrapped his hand around Frankie’s cock, he couldn’t control himself for much longer and spilled down Zach’s throat. He whined as Zach swallowed everything down and made his way back up Frankie’s body. Frankie tilted his head up for a kiss, drawing Zach close and pressing their bodies together. 

Zach giggled, letting Frankie have his way for a moment and then breaking the kiss. “I love you.”

“I love _you_ ,” Frankie whispered, his fingers rubbing Zach’s ear slowly.

**

**Frankie Grande, 32**

_I really just hope we’re on the same page. It’s one of the biggest decisions of our lives. Getting divorced is different than just breaking up. We jumped straight into marriage the second we met. Who does that, y’know? It’s just...I don’t know. There’s no ‘previously on’ for zankie. There’s no way to tell if this will last forever or not. We didn’t get a choice in who we married, but it’s our decision if we want to stay together. I’ve spent the last six weeks falling completely in love with this man, and I don’t want to walk away from that._

**

Zach giggled as Frankie held one of his mini birthday cupcakes to his lips and Zach did the same to Frankie, replicating when they shared cake on their wedding day. He chewed the cake and swallowed it, then reached forward to cup Frankie’s face in his hands, leaning forward to kiss him slowly. Frankie’s fans were outside the cupcake shop cheering, making Frankie laugh.

Zach smiled brightly. “Happy birthday.” He kissed him again. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Frankie replied, feeling like his smile could crack his face.

Zach helped him distribute the cupcakes to the fans as they came in, posing for pictures with Frankie and wishing him a happy birthday.

Joan stood beside Zach, the two of them watching Frankie taking selfie after selfie with fans. She smiled at Zach, looping her arm through his. “I’m proud of you, Zach. Of both of you. You’ve been through a lot in the last six weeks. Not many people can say they’ve been through as much as you two have. And you’re still here, supporting my son and becoming a part of this world and giving him the love I’ve always wanted him to have.”

Zach blushed, but found himself smiling again and feeling like his heart was going to explode. “He deserves it. You raised a really great person. I just want to make him happy, like he makes me happy.”

She pet his arm gently. “You deserve it, too. I couldn’t have picked a better husband for Frankie if I tried. You’re a part of this family.”

He felt tears prick at his eyes and smiled, leaning down to press a kiss against her cheek. “Thanks mom.”

**

“We make our decision tomorrow,” Zach said, putting his computer down on the coffee table. His parents were in a Skype box on his screen, calling to check how everything was turning out. “Frankie left to go see one of his friends, so I’m just waiting for AJ to come over.”

Jill nodded slowly. “And...what are you thinking about, in terms of your decision?”

“I love Frankie,” he said simply. “I don’t want a divorce.”

He watched his parents’ facial expressions and questioned them when they didn’t seem immediately happy by the news. Jill sighed. “It’s just...you barely know this boy. We were willing to entertain you through this, but...Zachary, how can you know you want to be with him for the rest of your life? You’ve known him for less than two months. I know your father and I were married pretty quickly, but we knew each other.”

Zach shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t get it. You told me you’d support me through this. And now you’re, what, asking me to give up on my marriage?”

“Zachary, don’t be so dramatic. We just never expected any of this to actually happen; not for you to be chosen for this...experiment...and certainly not for you to marry a man.”

He clenched his jaw. “That’s what this is really about, isn’t it? Not about my marriage working out, but my marriage to a _man_ working out? Y’know, I should’ve seen this coming after you didn’t even try to convince Grandma to let us come to dinner for Hanukkah. Were you hoping my marriage failed this entire time?”

“Of course not.” She sighed. “It’s just not right, Zach. We tried getting past it and accepting it, but it’s not right. We had so many plans for you and you marrying a nice Jewish girl and having children. How are you supposed to have children with a man?”

Zach felt a surge of anger and sadness well up inside him. “I don’t need this today. This is supposed to be a happy weekend for me. Frankie is my husband. He’s the one I am choosing to be married to. If you can’t accept that or the fact that I am _bisexual_ and am attracted to men, then I’d really appreciate it if you kept it to yourself. Because I’m happy. I’m really fucking happy. And Frankie is part of that. And _when_ we have kids, there are plenty of ways for us to do that.” He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “Frankie is my family. If you can’t accept that or don’t want to be a part of that, that’s on you, not on me.”

**

“When I met with the experts and told them all the characteristics I wanted in a partner...they pretty much nailed it,” Zach said, sitting across from AJ. “He’s by the far the smartest and funniest person I’ve ever met in my entire life. Those are the two characteristics I care about most. And on top of that, he’s nice and he’s talented and he’s caring and he’s gorgeous...I don’t know. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. He’s just amazing. Isn’t he amazing?”

AJ laughed. “Frankie’s a cool guy. I think he’s good for you.”

“He is good for me,” Zach said, a goofy smile stuck on his face. “I don’t want to give up on someone who’s so good for me.”

This is what he needed. He needed someone who understood Zach and who really knew him and knew Frankie. Someone who knew how good they were together. Someone who would support him no matter what choice he made.

**

“What are you thinking?” Lauren asked. “What are the down sides to you, in staying with Zach?”

Frankie sighed. “I don’t know, I mean...he’s needy. He gets jealous really easily. He sulks when he doesn’t get his way. He’s like a puppy, he just needs so much attention and reassurance and love. And sometimes that’s great, but it’s also difficult with how busy I am all the time and will continue to be.”

“Well that’s something you have to think about. You’ve got so many opportunities coming up this year. Do you have the ability to make time for a marriage right now?”

**

Zach ran his hand through his hair. “I just hate looking weak, you know? I feel bad asking him to pay attention to me. But, like…I need that. Especially with him always being out and about with all these other guys. I need to know I’m a priority, I just don’t want to have to make myself a priority.”

**

“I do really love Zach and care about him, and I love that he’s become a part of my life. I love that my friends and my family and my fans love him. That makes it so much easier. But he’s only been a part of all this for less than two months. I just want to make sure he’s ready for everything that being a Grande brings.”

**

Zach giggled, leaning into Frankie’s neck, pressing a gentle kiss against his skin. “I love you.”

Frankie smiled at him, pressing their lips together for a moment. “I love you too.” Zach’s cute little puppy dog eyes were his weakness. His hand squeezed Zach’s leg. “Want a bite?” he asked, offering Zach a forkful of his food.

Zach nodded happily, accepting the bite of food. He moaned softly, drawing Frankie’s eyes to his lips. “That’s so good.” Frankie hummed, leaning back in to kiss him again. “Want some of mine?” Zach asked.

Frankie smirked. “I want everything of yours,” he teased. Zach giggled again and ignored his teasing, giving him a bite of his own plate of food. “Mmm. So good.”

Zach felt his face warm under Frankie’s gaze, which was only broken by Doug saying “Are you two done with being grossly cute yet?”

Frankie grinned, pressing another kiss against Zach’s lips. “Not even close.”

**

“So? What’d you think? Did you like it?” Frankie asked, tugging on Zach’s arm as they followed Joan and Frankie’s friends out of the theatre.

“Breathe, baby,” Zach laughed. “Give me a second.”

He laughed with him. “I’m sorry. I’m just excited you finally got to see Mamma Mia and I want your opinion. It was one of my favorite plays to be a part of.”

Zach smiled at him, wrapping his arms around Frankie’s neck. “Well...nothing will ever be as good as Rock of Ages in my mind and watching you actually perform, but...it was good. It was really good.”

“Yay! I’m so happy you liked it.” He peppered kisses against Zach’s neck, making him giggle. “So happy,” he whispered in his ear, tugging on Zach’s earlobe with his teeth. 

Zach gasped softly, tightening his grip on Frankie’s neck. “Frankie! We’re in public,” he giggled.

He smirked at his husband, giving him a slow kiss, one hand cupping Zach’s face and brushing his thumb along his jaw. He pulled back and admired the glazed over look in Zach’s eyes. “Guess we better get home then, hmm?”

Zach nodded, taking Frankie’s hand and following his lead.

**

It took a half hour before they’d returned home and Frankie’s mom and friends had left, wishing Frankie a final happy birthday. Zach was nearly vibrating with anticipation, and Frankie decided to torture him just a little longer, stopping at the kitchen island where the remains of his birthday cake sat.

“Would you like anymore cake?” Frankie asked innocently, swiping up a fingerful of frosting and bringing it to his own lips, sucking it into his mouth while keeping his eyes on Zach.

Zach swallowed thickly. “Frankie,” he whined. “C’mon.”

Frankie winked at him and reached his hand out for Zach to take. Zach groaned, walking over to him and lacing their hands together. Frankie pulled him closer until he was standing between his legs. He blindly reached back with his free hand, and swiped up another scoop of frosting, then spread it on Zach’s neck. 

“Frankie,” Zach complained. He shut up quickly when Frankie’s tongue travelled up his neck, licking up the frosting as he went. He moaned, feeling Frankie’s teeth below his ear. “ _Fuck_.”

Frankie held him closer, nudging his nose beneath Zach’s jaw. “Remember our honeymoon?” he whispered. “When we could barely make ourselves get out of bed every day?”

Zach nodded slowly. “We were awful.”

He laughed softly. “I just want to be awful tonight. Tomorrow...it’s a big day. I want to spend this last night before that exactly the way we started.”

**

Zach had fallen in love with pretty much everything about Frankie in the last six weeks. From the way he laughed to the way he always looked right at Zach when he spoke to the way he’d lay with him and Tiger on the couch at night before bed. But most of all, he fell in love with this; with the way Frankie’s hands slid across his body, and the way he didn’t just kiss his lips, but his eyes, his jaw, his neck, his shoulder, his heart, the tips of his fingers, anywhere that he could reach to make Zach feel as loved as he ever had before this experiment.

There was also the way Frankie would have just barely enough space to look him in the eye and tell him he loved him, making sure Zach just _knew_. Everything that Frankie did just made him fall more and more in love.

He didn’t feel like he could say anything, other than choking out an ‘I love you’ in return. He didn’t think he had the words to even begin to make Frankie feel as amazing as he did. All he could do was hold Frankie as close as possible, kiss him back, and get sucked into the moment.

Frankie was inside him, gently pinning him to the bed as he made love to Zach, slowly and thoroughly. They both needed it, that unbreakable connection, with Decision Day looming over their heads. Zach wasn’t sure they’d ever had this little space between their bodies or that he’d ever felt so entirely consumed. But he loved it. Craved it, even. He just wanted Frankie to keep pushing into him like he was and touching him all over, otherwise he was afraid he might break.

It wasn’t much longer until they’d come, clinging to each other in their bed. Frankie had spent several long moments just kissing Zach like his life depended on it before escaping their warm bed to grab a washcloth and clean up.

Afterwards, they cuddled back together, lazily making out and running their hands over each other’s bodies. Zach admittedly was a very clingy person, even more so after having sex. With Frankie it was even worse, because he made Zach feel so happy and loved and protected, and Zach craved it, always itching for more. He wanted Frankie surrounding him all the time, just running his hand along his back, spoiling him with kisses, and never having to move.

He leaned forward, burying his face in Frankie’s neck, nuzzling in and closing his eyes. Frankie hummed, running his hand from Zach’s back up to his neck, massaging his muscles gently. He moaned softly, leaning into the touch.

“I love you,” Frankie murmured into Zach’s ear. 

Zach couldn’t stop himself from smiling into Frankie’s skin and trying to force himself even closer to Frankie. “I love you too.” He stayed silent for a few minutes, just relaxing into Frankie’s embrace. He was close to being lulled to sleep when he forced some energy back into his body. “Frankie?”

“Yes, my love?”

Zach grinned, pulling back a little so he could see Frankie’s face. He just stared at him for a minute or two, smiling softly and tangling their legs together. Eventually, he took a deep breath and spoke. “I want to be a Grande. I want to take your last name.”

Frankie looked shell shocked, and then Zach watched his eyes get all glossy. “Yea?” he asked hopefully.

Zach nodded, wiggling closer to him and brushing their noses together, making himself giggle. “Yea,” he confirmed. “I love you. These six weeks...they’ve been crazy. But I wouldn’t have wanted to share them with anyone else. You’re my favorite person. And I always...I never felt like I was good enough to be in my family. My whole life, it just felt like I was right on the outside of everyone else. I love my family, I do, but...with you and Ariana and your mom and Nonna...it’s so different. You’ve all made me feel like family, and I just _feel_ like I was always supposed to end up here, y’know?”

“Jesus, Zach,” he breathed. “Shit, how do you keep finding more ways to make me fall in love with you?”

Zach giggled happily, his face turning a light shade of pink. He shrugged innocently, grinning at him. “I don’t know. But I don’t wanna stop.”

“I don’t _want_ you to stop,” Frankie said, rolling over to lay on top of him. “Ever.” He wasn’t sure how much time after that he spent pressing kisses against Zach’s laughing lips, but he was one hundred percent sure he had never been happier.

**

**Frankie Grande, 32**

_I would not stay in a marriage if I didn’t think it was going to make it. If I thought we were just going to fight and argue and be upset more than we would be happy, I would walk away, for both our sakes. But Zach and I love each other and we want this. This marriage is not perfect. No relationship is perfect. But I feel perfect when I’m with him. He makes me smile, he makes me laugh, he makes me believe I can do anything. The thought of getting a divorce breaks my heart, because I love this kid. There were times during this experiment where I thought that’s where we were headed. Right now, though, I’m confident in us. I believe in us and our marriage, and I think we know each other a lot better now, so we know how to handle it when we fight in the future. We know it’s not always going to be easy, but this has become more than just an experiment for us. It’s become our lives. This is our reality. Our future._

**

“I made breakfast,” Frankie sing-songed as Zach came into the kitchen. “Bacon and eggs, toast, coffee for me, orange juice for you.”

Zach wrapped his arms around Frankie’s waist, smiling at the plates of food waiting on the counter. “That’s what we had the morning after we got married.”

“I know,” he grinned. “I thought it would nice if we came full circle.”

Zach hummed, kissing Frankie’s shoulder. “Very nice.”

“Hey, let’s take a picture for Instagram before we eat. I want to commemorate today.” Zach rolled his eyes playfully, but agreed as Frankie grabbed his phone off the kitchen island. 

He stayed behind Frankie, arms still around his waist, and rested his chin in the crook of Frankie’s neck. They both smiled brightly, and Frankie took a few shots from a couple different angles until he was satisfied.

“Can I eat now?” Zach begged. Frankie laughed, leaning backwards to kiss his cheek. 

“Of course, munchkin, let’s eat.”

**frankiejgrande**

_Today is by far the most important day of 2015 so far. Big huge important decision to be made, and I cannot wait to share it with U all. Thank you #grandtourage for always supporting me in everything I do. But biggest thank you to @ranceypants for being my other half. [kiss emoji] #zankie [[photo]]_

**ranceypants left a comment on frankiejgrande’s photo:**

_I should be thanking YOU. You are the brightest thing in my life. You are my best friend. You are the family I chose. [blue heart emoji] [pink sparkly heart emoji]_

**frankiejgrande left a comment on his photo:**

_@ranceypants And I would choose you every time!_

**

Zach watched Frankie sit at the mirror, carefully putting different kinds of makeup on his face. He added some glitter to his eyes, getting it from one of the bottles Zach had bought him for Christmas. It was a whole process that Zach admittedly didn’t understand, but was hypnotized watching. With or without makeup, though, Zach thought Frankie was the most gorgeous person he’d ever met.

Frankie smiled as Zach repeated the thought outloud and made eye contact with him in the mirror. “The feeling is mutual, my love. Do you want me to do yours?” he asked, holding up a container of makeup Zach had seen Frankie putting on his face earlier.

He didn’t really, but he nodded and crossed the room to sit in front of Frankie. There were different sized brushes and makeup cases beside them and Zach honestly couldn’t tell the difference between any of them, except the glitter. And if he thought Frankie putting makeup on himself was hypnotizing, it was nothing compared to how dazed he felt as Frankie did his. His face was so close and he had a look of concentration firmly in place, his tongue peeking out just a little, and his hand was holding Zach’s jaw in place, tilting his head every so often as needed.

The only time he broke from his staring was when Frankie grabbed a container of glitter, and he quickly put his hand on top of Frankie’s to stop him. “I think you shine bright enough for the two of us,” Zach laughed.

Frankie rolled his eyes but conceded. He slid his hand beneath Zach’s jaw softly, looking him right in the eye and making him feel completely undone. He lead Zach forward, pressing their lips together firmly.

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_Teamwork for me in a marriage means...you have to fight for it. If it’s something you want, you fight for it. That’s what I want. I want my husband to fight for me, for us, and show me he wants this as much as I want this. And I honestly believe that Frankie has shown me that. I went into this experiment with no doubts, and that’s the way I’m leaving._

**

They pulled back from the kiss, and Zach felt Frankie taking his breath away like always. He kept his eyes closed for a moment, then opened them to stare right back into Frankie’s eyes.

“I know we’ve already discussed where our heads are at with this decision,” Zach said quietly. “But no matter what, this experiment has changed my life. _You_ have changed my life. No one can take that away from us.”

“Never,” he whispered in return. He smoothed out a wrinkle in Zach’s shirt and smiled softly at him. “You look great.”

**

Zach held Frankie’s hand tightly in his as they sat in the car on the way to make their decision. He knew what decision he was going to make. He knew what decision Frankie was going to make. But regardless, he felt anxiety creeping up on him, knowing how important this day was.

“This is, like, even bigger than our wedding, y’know? Like...we didn’t choose to marry each other, but we’re choosing whether or not we want to stay married to each other. It’s scary.”

Frankie placed his other hand on top of Zach’s, giving him a reassuring smile. “I know. This decision is going to affect the rest of our lives.” He let his words hang between them as they pulled up in front of the building where they would meet with the experts and give their decision. “Are you ready?”

Zach exhaled slowly and nodded, squeezing his hand. “Yea, I’m ready.”

**

They entered a room on the third floor, and were welcomed by Dr. Joseph and Dr. Logan. They hugged the two experts and then sat in the couch designated for them. Zach got a little more nervous at the lights and cameras set up in the room, but then Frankie’s arm was hooked through his, and everything centered back on him.

After everything was set up, Dr. Logan smiled at them reassuringly. “The experiment has come to an end, and today you must tell us whether you want to stay married or whether you want to get a divorce. But first, tell us what this experience has been like for you. Zach?”

Zach took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts together. “You know, I’ve never had to be a partner before, and this experiment really forced me to. And I think that was really beneficial. Coming into 2015, I knew that what I wanted out of it was a partner, and to be a partner, and I think I got that. My life isn’t just me anymore. It’s bigger, and fuller.”

“I think our biggest struggle over the last six weeks,” Frankie said. “Was that we didn’t really know how to communicate with each other when something was wrong. It’s hard, I think, at the beginning of a relationship, because it’s new, and you’re still getting to know the person, and you don’t want to say something and have that be the end of it, you know? And I think it was harder for us, because we had to get to know each other after already being married. It wasn’t as simple as going on dates and becoming boyfriends and working out a relationship the normal way. So I think it took us awhile to figure out how to do that, and we had some bumps along the way, but now that we have, it’s a lot easier.”

Zach nodded, squeezing his hand. “I think we both came into this with open hearts and open minds and determination, and there were times where we may have wanted this experiment to be over and to just go back to what we were used to. But I think we tried our hardest to make this work and to figure out how to do this.”

“So, this is the big question,” Dr. Logan said, a smile on her face and her hands laced together in her lap. She made eye contact with the two of them for a moment before speaking. “Do you want to stay married, or do you want to get a divorce? Frankie. What is your decision?”

Frankie sat up a little straighter, squeezed Zach’s hand a little tighter, and inhaled a deep breath. “Marriage isn’t easy. It’s way harder than I think either of us anticipated. But if marriage and that person is worth it...then it doesn’t seem so difficult.” Zach felt a bit of the tension in his shoulders release and started to smile a little. “My decision...is to stay married.”

They both were smiling, as were the experts, and Zach felt like he was going to break Frankie’s hand from squeezing it so hard. His palms were sweaty from his earlier nerves, and he desperately wanted to wipe them off on his pants, but he was unwilling to drop Frankie’s hand until they were out of there.

Dr. Joseph smiled at him and nodded. “I think that’s a great thing. I’m glad you made that decision.” There was a long pause, and then Dr. Joseph turned his attention to Zach. “Zach. What is your decision?”

Zach sighed slowly. “I...Frankie’s right; marriage is a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. There were times through this process where I thought I was more interested in this relationship than he was, and that he’d rather be with other people. And that obviously wasn’t a good feeling. But I know he wasn’t trying to intentionally hurt me, and we were able to work past everything and go back to our happy place. And I love our happy place, I love Frankie, and I’m not ready to give it up. I want to stay married.”

The experts smiled at them and congratulated them. Zach only had eyes for Frankie, looking at him with big eyes and a bigger smile, giggling as Frankie cupped his face. They kissed, clinging to each other in their happiness. He felt Frankie’s wedding ring against his jaw, and it only made him happier. He wished they were back in their apartment so they could celebrate further, but he had to settle for what he had at his hands now.

“I love you,” Frankie said as they pulled back. Zach giggled, pressing another kiss against his lips.

“I love you too.”

**

Zach felt even clingier than he had been at Frankie’s solo show earlier in the week. He didn’t want to let go of Frankie, barely getting them into the apartment before he was burying his face in Frankie’s neck and just breathing him in. Frankie’s hands stroked up his sides and his back, giving him the contact he needed. The camera crew was filming every move they made and occasionally filming Tiger as he circled them and lay at their feet.

Frankie lifted Zach’s face to look at him, pressing slow, meaningful kisses into his mouth. Zach held tight to Frankie, feeling completely overwhelmed by the entire day so far.

“This was just one chapter,” Frankie said, his thumb brushing soothingly against Zach’s temple. “One chapter of the book of Zankie we’re creating. Now we start the next chapter.”

Zach giggled. “I’m hoping this is a really big book.”

He grinned, kissing him again. “It’s going to be the longest book ever,” he promised.

**

**Zach Rance, 24**

_The biggest thing I got out of this experiment was Frankie. He is the smartest, funniest person I have ever met in my entire life. He’s the best husband I could have asked for. He makes me excited for our future together. There’s nothing I can’t do with him by my side. I’m a better person because he’s in my life. I really am._

**

**Frankie Grande, 32**

_We still have a lot to learn about each other. We’ve only known each other for six weeks. But more has happened in those six weeks than happens in a typical relationship. Zankie is definitely not a typical relationship. So yea, we have a lot left to learn. But right now...it’s till death do us part...so we have all the time in the world._

**

Zach felt like a zombie as he followed Frankie through the airport. After such a long and draining Decision Day, the rest of their night was filled with Frankie finishing packing for Africa and celebrating their decision. He hadn’t slept at all, and now it was early in the morning, still before sunrise, and Frankie and his friends were getting ready to leave.

Zach stayed with Frankie as far as he was allowed, and then clung to Frankie like an octopus, wrapping himself around his husband with no intention of letting go.

“Don’t go,” he whined. “It’s too long. Stay with me.”

Frankie felt horrible having to leave the day after they had made their decision, but this had been planned since before they had even been married. He played with Zach’s ear and kissed his neck softly. “It’s just a week, my love. I’ll be home before you know it.”

“This is the longest we’ll have been apart.”

“I know.” He took Zach’s hand, bringing it up to kiss his wedding ring repeatedly. “It’s okay. We have the rest of our lives.”

“I wish I could go with you. It’s important. I feel like I should be there. I _want_ to be there.”

Frankie smiled at him. “I know. But it’s okay. I promise. You just hold down the fort here. Take care of Tiger and the apartment, and _yourself_ , please,” he stressed. “And I’ll be home in your arms as soon as humanly possible.”

Zach was pouting, but he nodded, nuzzling his way into Frankie’s arms. “Frank’s gonna be so proud of you. You’re so perfect. He was so lucky to have you in his life.”

Frankie teared up and kissed him urgently, not pulling away until he thought his heart would explode. “And I’m lucky to have you.”

Zach let go of Frankie long enough for Joan to say her goodbyes. She told him how proud she was of him, and how proud his grandfather would be, and Frankie had to force himself not to cry right there in the middle of the airport.

He made Joan and Zach pose with him in some final Snapchats before he had to leave, and then he was kissing them both goodbye.

“I love you,” Frankie said firmly, holding Zach’s face in his hands and making sure he looked in his eyes.

Zach held onto his arms, brushing his thumbs against the fabric of Frankie’s bright red shirt. “I love you too.”

They shared a final kiss, then Frankie wrapped his mother in a quick hug. “I love you. Make sure he eats, please.”

Zach rolled his eyes playfully, groaning to himself at the fact that Frankie had to have his mom make sure he took care of himself over the next week. “I’ll be fine. I’ll just miss your cuddles. Don’t be surprised when you come him and your side of the bed is full of Tiger’s fur.”

Frankie gave him a mock stern look, but grabbed his bags off the ground. “I love and miss you both already.”

“Miss you more,” Zach said, getting sad again as Joan put her arm around his waist. “Hurry home.”

He smiled at him. “Of course I’ll hurry home. I’ve got a husband waiting for me now.” He winked at Zach, making him feel like his heart skipped a beat, and then he walked off with his friends to catch their flight.

Joan smiled up at him, squeezing his waist as she noticed his eyes were still fixated on the last place they had been able to see Frankie. “Come on, sweetheart, let me buy you some breakfast.”


	17. Six Months Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all folks. Thanks for sticking around for the last 7 months while I cranked this thing out. Leave me some comments <3

“Welcome to Married At First Sight - Six Months Later. I’m Kevin Frazier. Six months ago, the couples met each other for the first time at the altar as they prepared to say ‘I do.’ Now, the newlyweds honeymooned, they braved the holidays, and they moved in together. They lived for six weeks as husband and wife -- or husband and husband. And it wasn’t always wedded bliss. But the last time we saw them, Cody and Nicole, and Zach and Frankie, they decided to stay married. Unfortunately, Amber and Caleb decided to get a divorce. Have _any_ of them stayed together, and are there any six month anniversaries that we should celebrate?”

***  
_  
Zach leaned against a wall in the arrivals area, blinking sleepily at the airport in front of him. It was just about 7am, it was freezing, and Zach just wanted to be home in bed. He held a coffee in his hands from Starbucks and used the warmth to keep his fingers from feeling like they were going to freeze and break off._

_He was in the middle of trying to hold back a large yawn when he managed to spot Frankie and his friends making their way out of their terminal. He perked up, bouncing on his toes until Frankie got closer. The moment their eyes met, Zach couldn’t control the smile on his face from growing. He was across the space and in Frankie’s arms within fifteen seconds, burying his face in Frankie’s neck and breathing him in._

_Frankie laughed happily, wrapping his arms around Zach and squeezing him as tight as possible. “Good morning.”_

_“Mmmmm,” Zach hummed in acknowledgement. He pressed a kiss against Frankie’s neck and started making his way to his lips. As soon as their lips were connected, Zach was trying to get as close to Frankie as he could, despite the fact that there was no space between them to start with. He felt desperate, like he just needed to be touching Frankie as much as possible._

_Frankie cupped his face in his hands, kissing him back with just as much need. He brushed his thumbs against Zach’s cheekbones slowly before finally breaking the kiss._

_Zach whined, brushing his nose against Frankie’s cheek. “A week was too long. No more one week trips apart. I refuse.”_

_Frankie smiled, playing with Zach’s ear and giving him another kiss. “No more one week trips apart,” he agreed. “I love you.”_

_Zach smiled brightly. “I love you too.” He lifted his hand as he stepped back, offering the coffee cup to Frankie. “I brought you coffee. Figured you might need it.”_

_Frankie took it gratefully and leaned back in to kiss him. “You’re the sweetest. I’m so happy we stayed married.”_

_**_

_Zach nuzzled his face into Frankie’s neck on the car ride home, whining softly. “Frankieeee, c’mon. Can’t you watch Ari on Jimmy Fallon **after**? I missed you.”_

_Frankie laughed, carding his hand through Zach’s hair. “It’ll take like ten minutes! And then we can go to bed.”_

_He pouted, shifting closer to Frankie and pressing his lips against his neck. “Please?” he begged. His hand travelled towards the button on Frankie’s pants, brushing against the material purposefully. “I can’t wait.”_  
  
**

“Zach and Frankie had a fairytale beginning, but viewers saw that they had many obstacles along the way. Their failure to communicate during these obstacles left some wondering if they would last after the cameras stopped rolling. Let’s welcome Zach.”

Zach came into the room and went over to say hi to the experts before shaking Kevin’s hand and sitting down on the couch.

“So how are you doing?” Kevin asked. “How have you been?”

Zach laughed a little, straightening out the creases on his pants. “I have been all over the place with everything.”

“What is that--what do you mean by that?”

Zach sighed. “Um...well, you know, Frankie and I decided to stay married at the end of the experiment. Six weeks just wasn’t enough for us. We wanted more time together and more experiences together, and...you know, I don’t want to lie and say everything has been perfect since then. It’s been tough.”

“In what way?” Kevin asked.

“Well...first of all, I didn’t spend Valentine’s Day with him.”

**

_“So what do you want to do tomorrow?” Zach asked with a smile, rolling closer to cuddle into Frankie’s arms._

_Frankie hummed, rubbing his back softly. “I’ve got a fashion show to go to. A couple, actually. You can come, if you want.”_

_Zach sat silently, waiting for Frankie to tell him he was kidding. The joke never came, however, and Zach sat up a little to look at him, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “Are you being serious?”_

_Frankie frowned. “Um...yes?”_

_“...Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day,” he pointed out, hoping maybe Frankie just forgot, despite them having talked about Valentine’s Day after Frankie had returned home from Africa._

_“I’m aware of what day it is,” Frankie said, rolling his eyes playfully. “Zach, come on, it’s New York Fashion Week. If I’m going to walk in Malan’s show on Wednesday, I need to be a part of this week and mingle and take notes. It’s work.”_

_“It’s our **first** Valentine’s Day,” Zach repeated, this time stressing the importance of the holiday._

_“Zach,” Frankie drew out. “Baby, I’m holiday’d out. We just had Hanukkah and Christmas and New Year’s and my birthday. We just had the **Grammy’s**. We literally just spent six weeks practically glued to each other’s sides.”_

_“I didn’t know that was a bad thing,” he snapped, quickly moving to get out of the bed and tugging clothes on._

_Frankie groaned, sitting up against the headboard. “It’s **not** , Zach, you’re overreacting.”_

_“I’m **overreacting**? Because I want to spend Valentine’s Day with my husband? I didn’t think that was really asking for a lot.”_

_“That’s not what I said.”_

_Zach tugged a shirt over his head, clenching his jaw tightly. “Y’know what? Fine. If sitting and watching a bunch of people walk down a stage and back again is more important to you than being with me, fine. I’ll just go spend the night back with AJ and spend tomorrow with him. Don’t worry.”_

_Frankie rubbed his temples tiredly, sighing heavily. “Are you going to do this every time we argue about something? Go running back to your old apartment and your old roommate and avoiding me?”_

_He shrugged, slipping on his shoes. “Hey, why not? At least I know AJ doesn’t think it’s a burden to make time for me.”_

**

“That must’ve hurt your feelings,” Kevin said.

Zach wiped his hands on his jeans and nodded. “It did. I felt like he didn’t want to spend time with me. Like realistically I knew that we had just spend practically every day together except for when he went to Africa, but...it was important to me. And it wasn’t for him. And I think I would have gotten over it eventually, but then, y’know, the event he went to, Justin Bieber was there. Obviously everyone saw me during the experiment being really insecure about Frankie’s obsession with him. So the fact that we were fighting and Frankie took a picture with Justin and posted it on Instagram saying that it was the greatest Valentine’s Day of his life...I was really hurt and pissed off.”

“So what happened after that? I can’t imagine that was easy for you to overcome.”

“It wasn’t. That was probably the hardest thing we had gone through since being married. I didn’t really want to talk to him, but obviously all of my things were at the apartment. So I went to the apartment and we were basically just yelling at each other for an hour. I wasn’t in a place where I was ready to talk it out and fix things. So I packed up some of my clothes and Tiger and spent a few days with AJ, and then I flew home to Florida.”

Kevin raised his eyebrows. “You went to Florida?”

He cleared his throat. “Yea. There was this golf tournament that I take my little brother to every year, so I already had plans to be in Florida, it just ended up being perfect timing. It was just really hard because, y’know, the first trailer for the show came out on Valentine’s Day, so once people realized Frankie was in it, all his fans realized that we had been married this whole time. I was getting even more tweets and comments and stuff like that talking about Frankie, so even if I wanted to avoid thinking about Frankie, I couldn’t. And we had never been shy about posting pictures or videos together, so when his fans noticed we weren’t really posting anything together anymore, they assumed we chose not to stay married, and they would send me hate thinking I must’ve been bad to him in the experiment. So it was just a lot of craziness all at the same time.”

“And how long were you in Florida for?”

“Um...I was there until, like, the beginning of March, so a few weeks? Frankie came down to Florida the first week of March for a couple days, but we didn’t see each other. Then I went back to New York after he went to LA.”

“You didn’t see each other?” Kevin asked in shock. 

Zach saw the experts frowning on the side of the room and blushed a little, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “No. We texted once or twice and then never ended up seeing each other.”

“Okay, so, I have to ask. This sounds like everything fell apart after experiment ended. How did you resolve all this? Or did you?”

Zach laughed shortly, folding his hands in his lip. “Um, well...the show premiered in the middle of March. I was back in New York in our apartment, and Frankie was over here in LA. We were talking at a bare minimum through texts. And on top of the Valentine’s Day stuff, I was upset about not seeing him when he came to Florida. So a couple days before the first episode aired, I was on the phone with Frankie, and I asked him to come home to watch the episode with me. He didn’t want to, and told me he had meetings to go to in LA and that I would have to watch it without him. I wasn’t okay with that, and I basically told him that if he wasn’t home to watch the first episode with me, that I would pack up all my things and move back in with AJ and we would be done.”

“Wow,” Kevin said. “That’s some pretty intense stuff. Why don’t we bring Frankie out here, and then we’ll find out if you two are still together.”

Frankie entered the room, said hello to the experts and Kevin, then sat down beside Zach.

“Nice to meet you, Frankie,” Kevin greeted.

Frankie smiled brightly. “It’s nice to meet you too!”

“So we’ve been catching up with Zach, hearing about your time after the show, and it seems like you two had a difficult time after Decision Day.”

Frankie nodded. “Yea, we did, for sure. Marriage isn’t easy, by any means. We learned that a few times while filming, but that doesn’t just stop because the cameras are off. It was really hard for both of us, and it was like we just kept getting worse and worse.”

“Let me ask: Valentine’s Day. You chose not to celebrate with Zach. Why was that?”

He sighed. “Well, I think I was really overwhelmed after the show ended. I left for Africa with my friends the day after filming wrapped to build a school in my grandfather’s name, and it was such a different atmosphere there and it was nice. Then I came back home and Zach and I were together for a couple days, then I had to come to LA for the Grammy’s. Zach came with me, and we had a really great time, and then we flew back home for New York Fashion Week, which I was going to walk in. And I was pretty much entirely focused on that, and I didn’t really see why Valentine’s Day was such a big deal, when we’d been together pretty much every single day except for the week I was in Africa, and we’d had several romantic Valentine’s Day-esque days since we’d been married. I just wasn’t really feeling up to another celebration and just wanted to go to this fashion show and relax.”

“And then your post about it being the ‘greatest Valentine’s Day’ of your life with Justin Bieber,” Kevin prompted.

Frankie managed to look guilty, glancing at Zach for a moment and then returning his attention back to Kevin. “That was an asshole move on my part, honestly. I was mad because I thought Zach was overreacting about not doing some big thing together for Valentine’s Day and then he left with Tiger to stay at AJ’s, and I reacted immaturely in writing that caption knowing it would make him mad.”

“And then you he went to Florida, you went to Florida a couple weeks later, and you didn’t see each other?” Frankie nodded in confirmation. “So then he gave you an ultimatum when it came time for the show to air: go to New York and watch it with him and work on your relationship, or don’t come to New York and split up. We’re all dying to know, _did_ you go to New York? Are you two still together?”

Zach and Frankie made eye contact, pausing momentarily before they gave their answer.

“We’re still together,” Frankie finally said, smiling at Zach and finally reaching over to hold Zach’s hand. Zach smiled back at him, leaning forward to give him a quick kiss.

The experts sitting on the side of the room all beamed with happiness, relieved that they got this outcome. Kevin smiled at them. “That’s awesome,” he said. “So after all that, what has your time since the show been like?”

Frankie squeezed Zach’s hand, sitting up straighter. “I mean it’s still been a roller coaster, we’ve still had arguments and disagreements, but nothing as bad as that one. For the most part, everything has been pretty steady between us since the show aired. We’ve definitely seen how we’ve grown since six months ago, and I think we will continue to learn and grow as time goes on.”

“Now, America loved you two together. And we’re smitten, honestly. Do you feel like there was any pressure, like, ‘We don’t want to let folks down’?”

Zach hummed thoughtfully. “I mean, yea, there was a bit of that pressure, for me at least, because I always had Frankie’s fans tweeting me from the first time he had posted a picture of us together, and they didn’t want Frankie to get hurt and they wanted him to be happy, and I didn’t want to hurt him and have those people disappointed. But at the end of the day, we wanted to make this work for _us_ , and we had to do what was best for us, not for his fans or fans of the show. From the moment I signed up for this show, from the moment I saw Frankie when I was walking down the aisle, I knew that this could be a really great story one day.”

Frankie grinned at him, nodding in agreement. Kevin smiled at them as they gazed at each other. “Wow. Okay, let’s pause for a moment and look back at that moment of when you first met.”

They watched as a monitor played back a couple clips of their wedding.

_“I just got married. Oh my god. This is so surreal. I was so nervous until I saw him, and then it just felt so right. He’s hot. He is. The chemistry is definitely there. I already feel a connection with him. The experts definitely knew what they were doing when they picked Frankie._ ”

Zach blushed, hearing himself talking about Frankie, and giggled. He leaned over to hide his face in Frankie’s shoulder for a moment, smiling at Frankie turned to kiss the top of his head.

“What was it like watching that again?” Kevin asked as the clip ended.

“I don’t think either one of us really got nervous until _right_ before the wedding. Everything became real at that point.”

“What were you thinking when you laid eyes on Frankie for the first time?”

Zach giggled. “I think everyone knows I basically became obsessed with him as soon as I saw him. It was pretty much love at first sight for me. No, but, really, I was just so zoned in on him and I wanted to know everything about him and I wanted him to like me. All I wanted was to just say ‘I do’ so I could start getting to know him.”

“You two were the only couple that kissed at the alter. How was that first kiss?”

Their eyes met and they both laughed. “It was great,” Frankie answered. “It was one of those things that just felt right, and it made me even more sure that this experiment was the right thing for me, and it gave me confidence that we had some sort of foundation to build a relationship on.”

“Alright, of all the couples, clearly they were the most at ease with each other on their wedding day. Um...the chemistry was obvious from the start, but how did that translate to the bedroom? Let’s watch.”

Zach felt his face heat up as the monitor began showing a clip of the end of their wedding, leading into their transition to the hotel room afterwards and then cutting to the next morning where they admitted to consummating their marriage, along with a few points throughout the experiment where they talked about having sex.

Frankie grinned and poked his side teasingly, pressing a kiss against his cheek. “Aww, honey,” he cooed.

Kevin laughed. “Well. Do you at all feel like you might have rushed into it? Because it was basically just the one day of the wedding until you consummated your marriage.”

“There was a moment in the hotel after the cameras left where, you know, we were kissing, and we were like ‘We shouldn’t do this, we just met, we should wait,’ but…”

“But,” Zach cut in. “There was a lot of...tension...in that hotel room that night,” he laughed.

“A lot of tension,” Frankie agreed. “And it just seemed natural, to be honest. It didn’t feel forced. It felt more forced to deny that we wanted to do it, like we were just saying we shouldn’t because we _had_ just met. But I think it was good that we didn’t stop ourselves, because we just let our relationship happen and let ourselves feel what we were feeling and I wouldn’t change that.”

“Now, let’s talk about your scheduling, because for awhile there, it seemed like you two would basically never see each other,” Kevin transitioned.

“I think that was one of the more difficult things about the experiment,” Zach said. “Because I would work during the day, then I’d come home and he’d be leaving within an hour and would be gone until late. Wednesdays were the only nights we got to have together. So we pretty much had to squeeze in six weeks of getting to know each other into one night a week and weekend mornings, plus, like, an hour or two a night that I could manage to stay awake after he got home.”

“I think that’s another reason we seemed to develop our relationship really quickly, because we had our honeymoon together and then a few days at Christmas where we both had time off of work, so that was where the majority of our work was put in to get to know each other. And obviously there were times where he came to see me at the theatre and we would talk or just spend time together, but I was also working, so it wasn’t a whole lot of time we got there either. It was just nice having him there to support me through it.”

Kevin nodded. “We saw you finish your run of Rock of Ages, which was interesting because it was the last time that show would be on Broadway. Then in the last week of the experiment, we saw your one-man show, Livin’ La Vida Grande. What’s next on the agenda for you?”

Frankie grinned. “Actually, I am going to be a judge on America’s Best Dance Crew on MTV starting at the end of next month. It films here in LA, and I’m really excited about it, because dance is my life, so getting to be a part of such a great show is incredible.”

“Well congratulations. So if that films in LA, how will you two be working on your marriage?”

“Well,” Zach started. “I quit my job in New York. I had taken a lot of time off at the beginning of the experiment, and I was taking a lot of time off after Frankie and I reconnected when the show aired so I could come to LA with him when he was looking for something to do next. And when Frankie was approached with ABDC, we had a few really long talks about what that would mean for us and we really tried to be as realistic and honest as possible. Obviously I didn’t want Frankie to have to turn down a really big opportunity just to stay in New York, and I didn’t want us to have to spend more time apart. So I decided to quit my job, and Tiger and I just moved out here about a week ago.”

“Frankie, what does that mean to you, that Zach would quit his job to move across the country so you could take this job?”

“It honestly means everything to me,” Frankie said sincerely. “I really wanted to do ABDC, but I was terrified that it would mean the end of my marriage. The last thing I wanted was to lose Zach. But, as always, Zach showed how supportive he is of my career, and he was willing to give up the life he had in New York to be out here with me. And, you know, it doesn’t mean we’re never going back to New York; we still have the apartment there, we’re going to end up back there every couple weekends or so, there’s always a chance we’ll end up moving back there. Right now, though, I have a lot of opportunities here in LA, and if Zach wants, I know he can have a lot of opportunities here as well. But we’re stable enough financially that there’s no pressure on him to _have_ to find something here. So I’m just happy that he’s by my side and supporting me in this.”

“One thing that really struck a chord with viewers was how your relationship was received by your families. Zach, your family seemed unsure about how to react when you told them you were getting married to a man. Now, during the wedding, it looked like they were accepting, but that wasn’t the case through the rest of the experiment. Let’s take a look.”

Zach tensed up, squeezing Frankie’s hand as the monitor showed him telling his family he was getting married. Next was a few clips from the wedding, then Hanukkah, followed by their fight in the car on the way to the Grande’s for Christmas, and then Zach’s Skype call with his parents the day before their decision. Frankie used his free hand to cover Zach’s reassuringly, giving him a soft smile.

“You went back to Florida in February,” Kevin said after the montage ended. “I’m assuming you saw your parents. How was that?”

Zach took a deep breath. “I...yea, I saw them. They knew that Frankie and I were having problems. They told me that I should just get a divorce. That didn’t really make me feel any better about anything, so I avoided being there as much as possible. I mostly crashed at some old friends’ apartments and would only see them when I’d pick up Peyton to go to the golf tournament. It was just really hard for me to hear my parents telling me to give up on my marriage. Even though Frankie and I were in a really bad place, I wasn’t even thinking about divorce. I knew we needed some time apart, but I didn’t want to permanently be apart.”

“So have things been better with them since, or are they the same?”

“They’re the same,” he forced out. He was calmed by Frankie’s hand squeezing his knee, trying to comfort him as best as he could. “We don’t...I don’t really talk to them. I haven’t talked to them in a couple months. Which is really hard for me, because I used to talk to them every few days on the phone before this experiment, and it’s harder to talk to Peyton now. But...I think the most important thing I’ve learned throughout my relationship with Frankie is that I have to put my happiness first. Because if I’m not happy, I can’t make him happy either. And I’ve learned that I deserve people in my life who love me for exactly who I am and support the choices I make, including the gender of the person I’m married to. And family is more than just the people who are related to you through blood, family is the people who love you and you choose to have in your life because they make it better. Frankie and his friends and his family, they’ve all become my family too. It sucks that my parents and my grandparents can’t, or won’t, approve of me staying married to Frankie, but I’ve gained more family through this experiment.”

“Frankie, how does hearing that make you feel?”

“It breaks my heart that his parents don’t want us to stay together, it really does. And it’s not that surprising, being from where we grew up, but it’s still so sad to me that he doesn’t have that support. I’m extremely lucky that I have a family who loves and supports me, and they have completely welcomed Zach into their lives since we got married. They love him and they think we’re great together. Zach and my mom were hanging out while I was in Africa and they hang out whenever they’re in the same city, he and AJ would go out to eat with my friends, he’s hung out with Ariana while I’ve been in meetings. It just makes me so happy that all the people I love love each other and I’m so glad that Zach has a support system in my family.”

Kevin glanced at his notecards in front of him and looked back at the two. “Now, we saw pretty much through the entire experiment that you both wanted to stay married. There were some times, however, that made us unsure of what would come. Let’s take a look at the decision that brought you both where you are today.”

They were both beaming from ear to ear, watching the short clip of their decision to stay married. Zach let go of Frankie’s hand to wrap his arm around his shoulders, kissing his temple as the clip faded away.

“That was a big day for you guys.”

“It was a really big day. A really special day,” Frankie said, smiling at Zach.

“Even though we talked about it the day before and even the day of, I was so scared that he was going to ask for a divorce,” Zach admitted. “Because you never know, I could’ve been imagining everything and really he couldn’t wait to get rid of me, you know? So I was like sweating bullets that day, and when he said he wanted to stay married to me, it was like I could finally breathe again. And I think every week that we sat down together to watch the new episodes was good for us, because we got to relive everything, even the bad stuff, and hear the experts’ advice to us, and look at all the moments that made us fall in love with each other.”

“A couple times at the beginning of the experiment, we saw you talking about children. Have you continued that conversation since the show ended?”

Zach blushed and giggled nervously. Frankie smirked, squeezing his leg gently. “We have,” Frankie said. “A few times, yea, we’ve talked about it.”

“We, uh...yea, we’ve talked about it since the show ended, and...we both want kids. Frankie obviously has them planned out on a much shorter timeline than I do,” he laughed. “But, you know, with him having this judging position on ABDC and a few other things in the works, he’s way too busy, and Tiger gives me enough child care as is right now, and I’m still young. So we’ve decided to at least wait until after we’ve been married for a year, and then reevaluate, see where we’re at and how our schedules are looking, and then we’ll figure out if we’re in a place to start expanding our family.”

“So I’ve gotta ask our experts, what do you think seeing these two together?” Kevin asked, turning the floor over to the four experts.

“We’re all so happy,” Dr. Pepper said, laughing. “We’re all tearing up over here, overjoyed that they’ve made it through some of these bad times that they might not have thought they could make it through. I mean, who doesn’t love a love story? These are people who have grown together so much in a very short time. We’re just thrilled.”

“I think you’ve showed a lot of people what it means to truly be in a relationship,” Dr. Joseph chimed in. “It’s not always perfect. Sometimes it’s hard and it’s scary and it’s a struggle. But if you put the work in, you can get through even the most difficult instances that arise. Sometimes you might need to take some time for yourselves before you confront a situation. But the important thing is that you do confront the situation and you work it out, and you two always manage to do that. I think being willing to work things out instead of just calling it quits is one of the greatest things you can do to show love.”

“Everybody’s throwing around the word love,” Kevin said, bringing the focus back over to him. “You both were pretty open with saying you loved each other since your honeymoon, though you said at the time it was a platonic sort of love, which then transitioned into you saying you were in love with each other. _Are_ you two in love?”

“Without a doubt,” Zach replied instantly.

“Yes. 100% yes,” Frankie agreed. “We’re meant for each other. We were meant to be together. We just, we complete each other. As corny as that sounds, it’s true, we do. You’re my better half,” he said, addressing Zach directly.

Zach felt his cheeks stretch with a wide smile. “We’re perfect. I think it’s hard when we’re fighting to know that we are a perfect match, but whenever we get past that, and we’re in our happy place, it’s so _clear_ why we were put together. We’re just everything that we really need for each other. We’re isotopes,” he finished, calling back to a time when Zach had tweeted that during the experiment.

Kevin smiled approvingly at them. “What do you think the future holds for you?”

Frankie shifted in his seat to face Zach better, taking his free hand in his. “Well...I think our future is going to hold a lot of ups...a lot of downs...and a lot of love. It’s not going to be perfect, but it will be worth it because we’re together. And, you know, hopefully there’ll be a baby or five in there somewhere,” he quipped teasingly.

Zach giggled, leaning into Frankie’s touch. “These last six months have been absolutely crazy. It’s been fun and hard, and...you’re everything I could have wanted in a partner. I say this all the time, but you are the smartest and funniest person I’ve ever met in my entire life. It’s true,” he said as Frankie laughed. “No matter what we have gone through or will go through, you’re literally my favorite person. And I love you.”

“I love you,” Frankie said back to him, kissing him through a smile.

**

A month later, Zach sat in the audience as Frankie had his first filming day for America’s Best Dance Crew. He watched as Frankie, fit with bright pink hair and his chest covered in purple glitter, judged each dance crew that performed. Frankie was completely in his element, and Zach was captivated through the whole process. 

When the cameras finished filming, Zach got to be back by Frankie’s side, hand in hand, proud of his husband for the opportunity he had. Frankie had some fans in the audience that came to say hi afterwards, and Zach couldn’t help but to love when people would think Frankie was amazing as he did. 

As they made their way home, Frankie crowded into Zach’s space, looking at him with love in his eyes. He kissed him softly, then pulled back, fluttering his eyelashes at Zach.

“Thank you for being there for me today. It meant a lot.”

Zach giggled, holding Frankie close to him. “I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else.”

**Author's Note:**

> I appreciate any and all comments/kudos/critique you are willing to give me. Thanks for taking the time to read this!
> 
> If you want to chat, you can find me on tumblr at [ be-your-own-anchor5](http://www.be-your-own-anchor5.tumblr.com)


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